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Group Encourages Stores To Drop Ben & Jerry’s Unless Organic Commitment Is Made

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) reports that 10 of 11 samples of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream tested positive for glyphosate, a key ingredient in Roundup herbicide.

OCA is calling for Ben & Jerry’s, a Vermont-based subsidiary of Unilever, to begin an immediate transition to using only organic ingredients, including milk, in its products or face a national and international consumer boycott.Ben-&-Jerry-Logo_198x197_300_CMYK_full

The group also encourages natural and organic food stores to drop the Ben & Jerry’s brand unless the company commits to transitioning to organic.

Responding to the OCA claim, Laura Peterson, spokesperson for Ben & Jerry’s, said. “We are aware of the recent New York Times article indicating that trace amount of glyphosate were found in some Ben & Jerry’s flavors. While we have not yet seen the results, we can confirm all Ben & Jerry’s products are safe to consume. Even if the reported results are accurate, as the laboratory that conducted the test stated, a person would have to consume 145,000 8-oz. servings per day to reach the limit set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.”

OCA International Director Ronnie Cummins said, “Ben & Jerry’s falsely advertises its products as ‘natural’ and its brand as ‘sustainable’ and ‘socially responsible.’ Nothing could be further from the truth.

“Ben & Jerry’s profits are built on the back of an industrial dairy system that poisons the environment and produces pesticide-contaminated food products. Ben & Jerry’s sales, driven in large part by its deceitful claims, damage the organic industry by cutting into the sales of authentic natural, grass-fed and organic producers.”

The results originated from independent lab testing of these flavors: Peanut Butter Cup, Peanut Butter Cookie, Vanilla (two samples), Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, The Tonight Dough, Half Baked, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Americone Dream and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Cherry Garcia was the only flavor that tested negative for glyphosate and/or AMPA.

According to the OCA, in March 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as a “probable carcinogen.” On July 7, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment added glyphosate to its Prop 65 list of chemicals known to cause cancer. A report published in January 2017, in the journal Nature, linked low doses of glyphosate to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, suggesting that there is no “safe” level of glyphosate despite otherwise indicated by regulatory agencies.

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