September, 27 2010, 05:00pm EDT
Ben & Jerry's to Drop"All Natural" Claims
Ben & Jerry's has agreed to phase out its use of "All Natural" claims on labels on 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 Ben & Jerry's parent company, Unilever.
WASHINGTON
Ben & Jerry's has agreed to phase out its use of "All Natural" claims on labels on 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 Ben & Jerry's parent company, Unilever. The letter said that at least 48 products were improperly labeled.
"Ben & Jerry's is doing the right thing by taking the phrase 'all natural' off its labels if the products have factory-made ingredients," said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. "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."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates meat and poultry, lets products be labeled "natural" if they do not include artificial colors or ingredients, or are not more than "minimally processed," by which the agency means a process that doesn't fundamentally alter the raw ingredient. But the FDA, which regulates all other foods, has no such definition. It told CSPI several years ago that defining the term was "not among our enforcement priorities."
When it criticized Ben & Jerry's misleading use of the word "natural," CSPI said that none of the questionable ingredients the company used was unsafe (even the tiny amount of partially hydrogenated oil used in the Chubby Hubby flavor is harmless). CSPI also noted, though, that plenty of ingredients that really are "natural" are still bad for your health, such as the artery-clogging cream that is the main ingredient in Ben & Jerry's ice creams.
Since 1971, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been a strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science.
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Critics Blast 'Reckless and Impossible' Bid to Start Operating Mountain Valley Pipeline
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Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC sent a letter Monday to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Acting Secretary Debbie-Anne Reese seeking final permission to begin operation on the MVP next month, even while acknowledging that much of the Virginia portion of the pipeline route remains unfinished and developers have yet to fully comply with safety requirements.
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"MVP brazenly asks for this authorization while simultaneously notifying FERC that the company has completed less than two-thirds of the project to final restoration and with the mere promise that it will notify the commission when it fully complies with the requirements of a consent decree it entered into with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration last fall," she continued.
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Appalachian Voices noted that MVP's request comes days before pipeline developer Equitrans Midstream is set to release its 2024 first-quarter earnings information on April 30.
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U.S. workers' rights advocates and groups celebrated on Tuesday after the Federal Trade Commission voted 3-2 along party lines to approve a ban on most noncompete clauses, which Democratic FTC Chair Lina Khansaid "keep wages low, suppress new ideas, and rob the American economy of dynamism."
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Democracy defenders on Tuesday hailed a ruling from a U.S. federal judge striking down a 19th-century North Carolina law criminalizing people who vote while on parole, probation, or post-release supervision due to a felony conviction.
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