JEFFERSON CITY, MO. (AP) -- Missouri has a state song, a state animal and an official state grass. Now a senator wants an official food.

Senator John Loudon is proposing legislation to make the ice cream cone Missouri's official state dessert.

The edible ice cream cone made its American debut at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.

Loudon says Missouri has remained an important ice cream cone state. He cites an ice cream research and development facility at the University of Missouri-Columbia as one example.

The Republican senator from Chesterfield says students will host an ice cream day at the Capitol in February to promote the idea.

Missouri would become one of only a few states with an official dessert.

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