Rum do as ice cream recipe is banned for being too boozy
AN ICE cream parlour thought it had its rum and raisin recipe licked...until it was floated past council chiefs.
Just Ice owner Gavin Murray has been told he can only sell the classic flavour if he applies for an alcohol licence because it contains more than 0.5 per cent rum.
Gavin now faces either paying £1,000 for the correct paperwork under the Licensing Act or modifying the production process to burn off the alcohol.
The ice cream parlour, which is based in Derby’s Market Hall, has been open just four months but has seen a surge in sales, including for rum and raisin, thanks to the summer heatwave.
Gavin, 47, said: “Rum and raisin is an old classic and has always been there.
“They are two flavours that go together really well and the people of Derby definitely love it. We get people asking for it every week.”
He added: “Our first step would be to run a trial on putting rum in at the start of the pasteurisation process and hopefully that’ll burn off the alcohol content, but leave the delicious, real rum flavour.
“Once we have done our trial, we will send it off to the lab for testing and hopefully we can get rum and raisin back for the Derby public who love it so much. I understand the council’s comments, they just have to go by the law and we have got to stick to that. Alcohol is a dangerous substance, so we want to respect and honour that.
“But I think you would have to eat a lot of it to be affected by the booze. You probably would be sick before you felt the effects of the alcohol.” Derby City councillor Mick Barker, lead member for licensing, said: “This particular ice cream recipe contains more than 0.5 per cent alcohol, meaning it is classed as alcoholic under the Licensing Act, and a licence is needed.
“Rum and raisin is a classic. If Just Ice applies for a licence they will be able to sell this flavour, no problem.”