Charlie Harry Francis, inventor of glowing ice cream and the mad scientist behind UK based company Lick Me I’m Delicious, wanted to incorporate the same glowing beauty of bioluminescent sea creatures into his ice cream.


Don’t worry, he didn’t head to Australia and start hacking away at some jellyfish chromosomes. The luminescent protein is synthesized in a Chinese lab, so no actual jellyfish got the ax. The calcium-activated protein only glows when it has been warmed up and agitated.

In simple terms? It lights up when you lick it.

At $220 a scoop, its a little more expensive than your corner ice cream stand. Francis himself describes it as “insanely expensive” - part of the reason why it is till in the early stages of production.

Think its safe to eat? Apparently Francis does - “Is it safe to eat? Well I tried some and I don't seem to be glowing anywhere, so we'll go with a yes for now.”

For all you jellyfish haters out there, a glow-under-UV version has been created too. “We've also made a non-jellyfish version using quinine from tonic to make a glow in the UV dark gin and tonic sorbet which is pretty neat…”

Follow Francis and his creations at his blog.