Government Of Venezuela Denies Milk Shortage, Ice Cream Problem

Following the Facebook announcement from beloved ice cream shop Coromoto that it would close "for the high season due to a lack of milk," the Venezuelan tourism ministry has publically denied that the closure is due to a milk shortage.

The country is currently experiencing a shortage of staple supplies, and its scarcity index was last measured at 29.4 percent, according to the BBC. The figure means that out of 100 staple goods, 29 were not commonly available across all markets.

Coromoto, located in the city of Merida, retains a Guinness World Record for its extensive collective of ice cream flavors, which currently stands at 863 varieties. The shop offers 60 flavors on any given day, depending on the weather and season.

In a statement published on its website (in Spanish), the tourism ministry said on Monday,December 29, that "despite the manipulation spread by a number of national and international media and the sign posted by the Coromoto ice cream shop, in which they blame their closure on a 'lack of ingredients', paradoxically the rest of these businesses are serving more and more tourists and residents as they have all that's needed to prepare ice cream."