Ice cream parlor patrons in N.H. fall ill after apparent THC exposure

The culprit seems to have been a 3-gallon tub of coffee Oreo ice cream produced by the store’s previous owner

Several people fell ill after eating the coffee Oreo ice cream at Roots Local Cafe and Catering in Newmarket, N.H. Some tested positive for THC, which is the main psychoactive component in marijuana and other cannabis products.Steven Porter

NEWMARKET, N.H. — Four people who fell ill last weekend after eating the same type of ice cream from a local shop appear to have been exposed to THC, a compound found in marijuana, local police said.

The patrons, who were unrelated to each other, sought treatment at area hospitals after they began experiencing severe dizziness, weakness, and exceptionally high heart rates, police said. Some tested positive for THC, which is the main psychoactive component in marijuana and other cannabis products.

Newmarket police Lieutenant Scott Kukesh said the ice cream itself, which is believed to have been locally produced, will be tested in a lab to determine definitively what it contains.

Kukesh said the incident resulted in serious sickness. One victim was a juvenile; two were taken to the hospital by ambulance; and one was hospitalized overnight for observation, he said.

The incident, which remains under investigation by the Newmarket Police Department with help from the Food and Drug Administration, occurred March 17 and 18 at Roots Local Cafe and Catering in the Newmarket Mills building, with ice cream under the “Angelo’s Amore” brand, police said.

The shop forfeited its ice cream for testing and has been cooperating with investigators, police said.

Roots Local Cafe owners Josh Enright and Amber Enright released a statement Friday saying their business will no longer source Angelo’s Amore ice cream.

“We cannot believe or understand how this happened,” they said. “Angelo’s Amore is no longer in business and Roots Cafe had no part in making of this ice cream.”

Their statement expressed sadness and outrage and said all Angelo’s Amore ice cream has been removed from the store.

Amber Enright told the Globe that she and her husband bought the cafe and the Angelo’s Amore ice cream inventory last fall from previous owner Marc Flore. He’s the one who produced the 3-gallon tub of coffee Oreo ice cream that appears to have sickened multiple customers and an employee, she said.

Efforts to reach Flore, who opened the Angelo’s Amore shop in 2020, were not immediately successful.