Ben & Jerry's scoop shop now open in Asheville, serving some flavors not found in stores

Mackensy Lunsford | The Citizen-Times

Show Caption Hide Caption Protesters angry over chemical in ice cream After a test on several Ben & Jerry's flavors revealed trace amounts of glysophate, an herbicide, in the ice cream, protesters are calling for the company to go organic.

ASHEVILLE — The summer's not over yet. Working to harness the last of peak ice cream season, Ben & Jerry's has now opened its first Asheville scoop shop, next to Urban Outfitters.

This one stocks some flavors only found at storefronts, including Bourbon Brown Butter and Lemonade Sorbet. Other flavors on display at the shop Monday included Coconut Seven Layer Bar, Cherry Garcia and Phish Food.

Also on display: the caloric count of each menu item, useful if you'd like to know a banana split can top 1,380 calories.

Otherwise, you'd do well to avert your eyes, or head to the sorbets, which have a modest 100-300 calories per serving. The shop, at 19 Haywood St., sells smoothies, shakes, sundaes, cups and cones, and some takeaway pints.

Waynesville woman owns Asheville Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's has more than 230 shops in the United States and 345 outside the country, most of which are franchise locations.

Asheville's is owned by franchisee Julie Williams, who lives in Waynesville and has two other Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops, in Sevierville and Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

In an email, company rep Lindsay Bumps said franchisee Williams "has worked closely with local organizations in her shop communities, one of which is Keep Sevier Green, where her scoopers and managers have worked to improve two local playgrounds."

Founded as a small shop in a renovated gas station in Burlington, Ben & Jerry's has a history of supporting popular progressive causes.

RELATED: Ben & Jerry's goes low-cal to compete with Halo Top

Controversy over ingredients

In 2013, the company came out in support of mandatory GMO labeling legislation, committing also to the transition of all ingredients to be fully sourced non-GMO.

But recent testing, which revealed trace levels of the herbicide glyphosate in some of the company's flavors, spurred some protesters to call for the company to go all organic.

In response, the company released a statement describing the levels found in Ben & Jerry’s products as essentially “irrelevant,” according to the Health Research Institute Laboratories representative who performed the test.

"A New York Times story noted that a 75-pound child would have to eat 145,000 eight-ounce servings per day to reach the limit set by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency," the statement continued.