Established B.C. ice cream brand pulled from grocery shelves over regulatory issues

A Victoria ice cream maker said she’s being frozen out by government red tape.

Autumn Maxwell has been selling Cold Comfort Ice Cream — her locally sourced, organic product — for years without a problem but is now being told she needs a dairy licence.

“We have vegan ice cream and we have dairy ice cream and we’ve been selling in stores for the last 10 years or so,” she told Global News.

However, on Oct. 1, Cold Comfort was pulled from the shelves at more than 20 Greater Victoria grocery stores, and Maxwell was told her ice cream did not comply with provincial regulations.

“It needs to be in the form of a pre-made ice cream mix coming from a licensed dairy plant or you can become a licensed dairy plant yourself,” Maxwell said.

The change has already had a big impact on her business, affecting between 25 and 50 per cent of her bottom line, she said.

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However, changing Cold Comfort’s ingredients to meet the provincial legislation is not possible for her.

According to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, there are legal requirements in place in the food industry to help prevent food-borne illness.

Island Health, which is responsible for enforcing the rules, said in a statement that they have “been working with this business for a number of months to support them into coming into compliance.”

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B.C. Agriculture and Food Minister Pam Alexis told Global News the government “is looking at ways to… adhere to all of the safety measures that are in place to protect people, but try to make it easier for small businesses like Cold Comfort to operate.”

Maxwell said she would love to have that conversation with the government.

In the meantime, she can still sell the treat from her storefront, thanks to an exemption for small producers under the Milk Industry Act.