The Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest has requested that the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Company drop the words “all-natural” from their labels. Ben & Jerry’s agreed to the label change on Monday, declaring that they would no longer battle over the definition of “all natural“. Ben & Jerry’s spokesman Sean Greenwood said that the change would happen gradually and hopes that it will help consumers make a more informed decision.
Ben & Jerry’s is not changing the recipes that make their best selling ice cream, which sometimes contain corn syrup, hydrogenated oils or other substances that are not natural. The CPSI has stated that the company should not use the term “all natural” unless it is truly all natural, with only naturally occurring ingredients. Ben & Jerry’s has agreed, and will no longer label their ice cream as such.
There is no formal definition of the term “natural”, according to the Food & Drug Administration. The FDA will not investigate any use of the term natural, unless it contains artificial colors, flavors or man-made substances.
The CPSI has requested that the FDA define the term, adding “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.”
via Yahoo! News
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