Ben and Jerry’s said it will be completely GMO-free by 2015. In this undated photo released by Ben & Jerry’s, a pint of “Apple-y Ever After” ice cream is seen. The company has renamed its’ apple-pie-flavored ice cream sold in Britain in support of proposed legislation in favor of same sex marriage. (AP Photo/ Ben & Jerry’s)
In a move bound to please environmentalist and consumers of natural and organic food, Ben & Jerry’s has announced plans to remove all genetically modified organisms (GMO) by the end of the year.
The announcement by Ben & Jerry’s is more of an objective which the premium ice cream maker plans to achieve.
However, given the complexity of GMOs, replacing them isn’t as easy as swapping ingredients. For this reason, the ice cream company founded in 1978 has stated that the conversion from GMOs may spill over into next year. At this time, one in every five ingredients used by the company are GMOs.
The announcement comes as a complete reversal of their position in the past California election where Ben & Jerry’s, along with other companies that use GMOs such as Monsanto, successfully defeated a state proposition (Prop 37) that would have required foods using GMOs to be identified as such on product labels. The Vermont-based company is no stranger to controversy and to reversing itself abruptly.
For years, the company maintained a policy that no upper-management could earn a salary more than 7x the income of the lowest paid employees. However, several years ago they ended the practice without any explanation.
Source:
Ben & Jerry’s Will Stop Using Genetically-Modified Ingredients, Company Says
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/02/ben-and-jerrys-gmos-genetically-modified_n_3372451.html
