Drunk driver pulled over for "eating cherry bonbons"

The driver of a car pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence said he had not been drinking much, but had eaten a large quantity of chocolate-covered cherry bonbons. It happened Wednesday night on Rijksweg-West in Arnhem, when police saw the vehicle "swerving and driving slowly."

He was given a breathalyzer test, which measured a quantity of 275 micrograms of alcohol per liter, about 25 percent over the legal limit.

"The driver indicated that the cherry bonbons had been on sale the previous week, and that these were ‘very tasty!’" police said. "He stated that he had had more than one box of the cherry bonbons.”

“Eating chocolates is fine,” the police wrote in a comment on Facebook, “but driving under the influence of alcohol is indeed not acceptable!”

The driver was forbidden from driving for another hour, which police said would allow an adequate amount of time to process the alcohol in his system and reduce it to an allowable level. Punishment will be determined by the prosecutor in the case.

Back eight years ago, a version of the confectionary sold by Hema contained 0.6 milliliters of 192-proof alcohol. A spokesperson at the time told NRC, "You would have to eat about 42 cherry bonbons to get the same amount as a half-liter of beer (at five percent)."