Largest Ice Cream Float Record
 

ATLANTA - The world's largest beverage maker on Friday kicked off the holiday weekend by creating a 10-ton ice cream float to break a world record the company set nearly a decade ago.

An official from Guinness World Records confirmed the 3,000-gallon float, made of Vanilla Coke and ice cream, set the new world record.

The Coca-Cola Co. held the previous world record for largest ice cream float _ 2,085 gallons _ that was set in 1998 in Atlanta, said Guinness representative Derek Musso. He said he was not aware of any other attempts to break the former record.

A tanker from the Atlanta-based company's syrup plant pumped a non-carbonated mixture into a specially made 15-foot-high glass containing a device that carbonated the beverage. Workers dropped buckets full of ice cream into the top of the glass by hand.

The event commemorated the soft drink giant's relaunch of Vanilla Coke, said Coke spokesman Scott Williamson. It was held next to the new World of Coca-Cola museum, which opened Thursday.

Although Guinness World Records officials required the float to be certified as drinkable by health inspectors, the 10-ton float was not served to the estimated 300 people who witnessed the event, Williamson said.

Instead, it was to be removed and disposed of by a garbage company. Coke provided separate, free ice cream float samples from a nearby kiosk.