Dear Ben and Jerry,
Please stop adding seaweed to your ice creams.
I was extremely disheartened to learn that a company I had always respected for their high moral values and a company mission to “improve the quality of life” had started using an ingredient that has a history of health concerns – carrageenan, a red seaweed extract. Yes, I know that carrageenan is approved by the FDA but I always felt that Ben and Jerry’s had much higher standards than those set at the FDA. Isn’t that one of the reasons why you take a stance on GMO’s and used egg’s from cage-free hens?
Suffice to say, I miss my New York Super Fudge Chunk… I want it back. I want to be able to enjoy it again but I refuse to have it as long as it has carrageenan. You should know that many refuse to eat anything with carrageenan in it and my family is one of them. As such, we no longer buy Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and are now buying from your competitors. If sales are not what they used to be, might I recommend removing carrageenan and making a very big deal about it. Your sales will jump back up.
Remove the carrageenan and restore my faith in the B&J mission to “improve the quality of life”. After all, ice cream made from “high quality dairy ingredients” doesn’t need a seaweed extract.
Learn more about the dangers of carrageenan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrageenan#Health_concerns
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA401181/Is-Carrageenan-Safe.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1242073/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22011715
https://www.google.com/search?q=Carrageenan+cancer
A former fan,
Robert
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