The ice cream business hasn't been all sweet and sugary for D'lites Emporium.
The Florida Department of Businesses and Professional Regulation dropped a food misrepresentation violation against the local low-fat ice cream vendor Thursday.
Still, news of the investigation has cut business in half, said Mike Roth, who owns the two D'lites stores with his wife, Cindy Noel.
The violation, filed after an Aug. 6 inspection, stated that the store was mislabeling ice milk as ice cream and incorrectly reporting calories in the product.
Jenn Meale, a spokeswoman for the department, said it was determined that the department did not have jurisdiction over calories and that the term "ice milk" is outdated and has been replaced by "low-fat ice cream."
The case was unique because officials were not sure which department should handle it, Meale said.
Roth said the entire situation was a misunderstanding because the citation was based on lab results from the mix for the ice cream, rather than the finished product.
Reports by D'lites that the ice cream contains only 40 calories per serving were slightly off, Roth said.
The difference is because of recent changes in the content of the low-fat dairy the store uses in production, he said.
The actual amount of calories per serving is 50, which is the amount now posted on the nutrition labels on the store's Web site.
The inspection was performed in response to a complaint from local TCBY owner Ken Rembert, who said the amount of calories reported in D'lites nutrition facts were impossible.
Rembert said he is disappointed with the outcome of his complaint.
"I don't know why we have statutes if no one is going to enforce them," he said.
Since the investigation has been dropped, Roth said it almost feels as if he is starting from scratch.
He said he is unsure how to increase business for D'lites again but remains hopeful.
"People loved us before, they would love us again," he said.
"The problem is how to get them back now that the air has been cleared."
