Votes to Raise Alcohol Content : Assembly Has Sweet News for Starved Truffles Fans

It has been no trifling matter for candy aficionados in San Diego, where chocolate truffles laced with brandy, rum and assorted liqueurs have been in short supply in recent months.

Too, it was no small matter for state Assembly members, who raised concerns about drunk drivers, alcohol consumption by minors and basic fairness under the law before voting, 57 to 8, Monday to increase the allowable alcohol content of spiked candies.

It was an even larger issue for the Western Candy Conference, the lobbying arm of the state’s candy industry. Despite sympathy for specialty stores that sell the popular truffles, candy makers fear their industry’s image as purveyors of “a wholesome food that is consumed by young and old alike” could be damaged by the bill by Assemblyman Larry Stirling (R-San Diego).

Some of those concerns surprised him, said Stirling, who added:

“You’d go under chocolate overload long before you got drunk” on the rich candies.

Stirling said he introduced the measure at the request of La Mesa candy maker Beth Sherman, who was issued a warning citation in December about the alcohol in her truffles.

Sherman said she went to Stirling after local health authorities threatened to slap her with a $1,000 fine, or even order her store closed, if she continued to sell candies with real liquor mixed into the soft chocolate center.

Sherman, who said she used the alcohol “as a flavoring,” did not consider the health officer’s threat seriously at first. But she said Stirling told her that the health officer who issued the warning citation was indeed serious.

Stirling said strict enforcement by local health authorities has virtually destroyed the San Diego-area truffle market, while confectioners in other areas continue to freely sell them with an alcohol content well above the current limit--0.5% based on volume, and only from extracts.

Stirling’s bill, which now goes to the Senate, would allow real alcohol up to 2% of the weight of the candy. It would also require that any establishment selling alcohol-spiked candies issue a written warning to its customers.

Stirling said his bill will ensure that the same standard for limiting the alcohol content in truffles and other candies is applied statewide.

Before the bill passes the Senate, Stirling said, he intends to amend it to prohibit the sale of alcohol-laced candy to minors.

“It is a yuppie generation issue,” said Stirling, who joked after the Assembly vote that San Diego truffle lovers are “going through withdrawals.”