The Homa Files

TakeAway: Ben & Jerry’s has come a long way since it was just two guys making ice cream.

Now owned by Unilever, the brand is trying to remain authentic.

However, it’s “All Natural” ingredients aren’t what everyone considers natural.

Bowing to pressure from an advocacy group, Ben & Jerry’s will remove “All Natural” labeling from 48 products.

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Excerpted from Brandchannel, “Ben & Jerry’s Bows to ‘All Natural’ Pressure,” by Shirley Brady, September 27, 2010

…Ben & Jerry’s is removing the phrase “All Natural” from its packaging as a result of a request from a health advocacy group.

The Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest announced that the Vermont-based ice cream-maker, which is owned by Unilever, has agreed to remove the words “All Natural” from all its ice creams and frozen yogurts “that contain alkalized cocoa, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, or other ingredients that aren’t natural.”

The move “amicably” resolves a dispute arising from a letter that the Center for Science in the Public Interest sent last month to Unilever. The letter said that at least 48 Ben & Jerry’s products were “improperly labeled.”

Ben & Jerry’s responded to an inquiry from AP it won’t change any recipes, but will remove the disputed phrase gradually from all packaging.

One major point of contention: the FDA “has no formal definition for ‘natural.'” … “The Food and Drug Administration could do consumers and food manufacturers a great service by actually defining when the word ‘natural’ can and cannot be used to characterize a given ingredient,” CSPI Executive Director Michael F. Jacobson said in a statement. …

Edit by DMG

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Full Article
http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/09/27/Ben-Jerrys-All-Natural-Ban.aspx

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This entry was posted on October 25, 2010 at 6:17 am and is filed under Mktg - Brands, Mktg - Promotion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.