September 1, 2022
A little-known New York State law has prompted stores to start carding customers and ban the sales of canned whipped cream to those under 21, reports NBC News.
Meghan Massey, 43, couldn’t understand why she was being carded this month at her Hannaford Supermarket in Watertown.
While Massey was having a laugh, Kent Sopris, the president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, or NYACS, isn’t so amused about the regulation, which he claimed is burdening members. “Requiring age verification when purchasing whipped cream is another classic compliance burden placed on convenience stores in New York State,” he said in a statement, adding, “”We hear constantly how important small businesses are to New York politicians but quite frankly laws like this prove otherwise.”
The age requirement for nitrous oxide cartridges went into effect on November 25, 2021. But Sopris said it wasn’t until recent weeks that his members became aware of it. “We did not receive any notice that the bill had been acted upon by the governor—nor did any of our business colleagues,” he remarked “When NYACS realized the law was in effect, we immediately alerted our membership and advised them of the change in the law.”
State Senator Joseph Addabbo (D), sponsor of the bill that became law, said on Monday, August 29, that stores shouldn’t be carding for canned whipped cream.
He said the law targets cartridges sold separately from typical whipped cream cans.
In theory, a youngster could buy a can of Reddi-wip, break it open and remove the cartridge of nitrous oxide, he said—but that’s not his target.
He said of stores carding over canned whipped cream: “That was never the intent of the bill.”
Erica Komoroske, a spokeswoman for Stewart’s Shops based in Ballston Spa, said her company took action in recent weeks only when employees noticed signs on display over canned whipped cream at other stores.
The chain now has hand-drawn signs educating customers about the 21-and-over whipped cream policy.
“I know it does seem silly,” Komoroske said Monday. “But we definitely see that there are certain teenagers[who] are abusing cans of whipped cream. So on the flip side we see that, as well.”
Research contact: @NBCNews