Cold Stone Creamery in College Park has discontinued its kosher certification.
The ice cream store’s owner, Irfan Khan, said he chose not to continue supervision with the Rabbinical Council of Greater Washington because it would have cost $1,000, which was out of his store’s budget.
“This year sales are so low, so we wanted to cut down on expenses,” he said.
Rabbi Moshe Walter, executive director of the rabbinical council alerted subscribers of a Silver Spring listserv of the change on
June 15. In a statement to WJW, Walter said his organization had made several attempts to contact Cold Stone, but never heard back.
“When those calls and emails were not returned, the [rabbinical council] assumed that Cold Stone was no longer interested in maintaining that certification which was then allowed to expire,” the statement read.
Khan said his store had been certified kosher to accommodate observant Jewish students at the nearby University of Maryland. He said he usually sells more ice cream when classes are in session and students come in during study breaks. But because of unusually cold spring weather, fewer students than usual bought ice cream.
He added that if sales improve, Khan said he would consider recertifying.
dschere@midatlanticmedia.com
