Ice Cream Causes Breathalyser False Positives

Posted by Alex in Food & Drinks on January 25, 2009 at 2:26 am


Have to take a breathalyzer test? Whatever you do, don’t eat ice cream beforehand. Here’s what one Australian man found out the hard way: Bubble O’ Bill ice cream treat will cause the test to come up positive for alcohol!

Prosecutors inquired why the machine had registered a "fail," which prevents the car from starting, despite the man’s claims that he had not been drinking.

The man claimed the alcohol reading was the result of eating a Bubble O’ Bill ice cream treat and Magistrate Rod Crisp ordered a test to be performed to back up the claim. Police recorded the man’s blood alcohol content as 0.00 and performed the test a second time after he took a few bites of Bubble O’ Bill, yielding a 0.018 reading.

Link – Thanks Denita!


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14 comments to "Ice Cream Causes Breathalyser False Positives"

  1. Oliver
    January 25th, 2009 at 3:30 am

    Non BS version of this story:

    Man discovers a way to fool the breathalyzer in his car into giving a false positive, and tries to use the existence of the false positive in court to get the device removed from his car.

    How is this newsworthy?

  2. Sofar
    January 25th, 2009 at 6:07 am

    This might actually be important, if he succeeds it could set a precedent. For some reason no one has really ever called these devices in to question before, lie detectors are inadmissible in court but breathalyzers? Infallible.

  3. Adam Stanhope
    January 25th, 2009 at 8:24 am

    Remember when Ben & Jerry's used to have a Kahlua-flavored ice cream? Mmmmm...

  4. Edward
    January 25th, 2009 at 10:26 am

    Go out drinking for a night. Purchase ice cream on the way home. Beat DUI charage. I like it.

  5. sw
    January 25th, 2009 at 11:21 am

    wait, they've invented a device that prevents you from starting a car with alcohol on your breath?! when, where, and why haven't i heard of it?

  6. caitlin13
    January 25th, 2009 at 11:43 am

    Wow sw it's been out for yeeeeeeeears.

  7. Screen Sleuth
    January 25th, 2009 at 12:21 pm

    This sounds a little fishy, I agree. Does the ice cream have rum in it or something?

  8. SenorMysterioso
    January 25th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

    You are missing the best part of the story - The magistrate's name is Rod Crisp

  9. MikeB
    January 25th, 2009 at 2:40 pm

    Don't Drink and Drive to begin with and this wouldn't be a problem.

  10. Colin
    January 25th, 2009 at 4:04 pm

    Edward, that's why after you test positive for a breathalyzer you get hauled back to the shop for a blood test. That's how it works in Canada...

  11. Belinda
    January 25th, 2009 at 6:10 pm

    Mmmm, I love Bubble O Bills! Used to eat them every weekend.

  12. Cnidaria
    January 25th, 2009 at 11:57 pm

    I'm guessing that the ice cream was sugar free, since most sugar free products use sugar alcohol instead of sugar. By the same logic, it is possible to get a false positive by chewing sugar free gum.

  13. Leah
    January 26th, 2009 at 4:27 am

    Bubble O Bills are the greatest icecream known to humankind. They do make me unreasonably happy.

  14. Lore
    January 26th, 2009 at 12:39 pm

    Where can I get some of this magic ice cream?


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