TRENTON, N.J. — Legislation advancing in the New Jersey Legislature would allow the manufacture, sale and distribution of ice cream and other frozen desserts containing limited amounts of alcohol.
Assembly Bill A5013, sponsored by Assemblyman Roy Freiman, D-Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset, and Assemblywoman Heather Simmons, D-Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem, was approved by the Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee on June 15 and referred to the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee.
Under the bill, businesses licensed to sell or distribute frozen desserts would be permitted to manufacture, sell and distribute frozen desserts containing up to 5% alcohol by volume.
The legislation would apply to products infused with distilled spirits, wine, malt beverages, hard cider or mead.
The bill requires alcohol-containing frozen desserts with more than 0.5% alcohol by volume to be sold in sealed packaging and carry warning labels stating that sales to underage individuals are prohibited, that the product contains alcohol, and that alcohol consumption can pose health and safety risks.
The legislation would make it a disorderly persons offense to sell an alcoholic frozen dessert to anyone under New Jersey’s legal drinking age of 21.
Additional amendments adopted by the committee would prohibit manufacturers and retailers from packaging or marketing alcoholic frozen desserts with misleading statements or imagery designed to appeal to minors, including toys, cartoon characters or depictions of underage drinking.
The bill also establishes requirements for displaying and storing alcoholic frozen desserts. Retailers would be required to separate the products from non-alcoholic frozen desserts and other food items, post notices advising customers that purchasers must be at least 21 years old, monitor display areas and verify both age and awareness of the product’s alcohol content at the point of sale.
Violations of the marketing and display requirements would also be considered disorderly persons offenses.
The legislation remains under consideration in the Legislature and would take effect immediately if enacted into law.
