Ben & Jerry's

[ReneC]

Hi There,

I work for Ben & Jerry's in Singapore. Presently we have 3 scoop shops at Singapore Zoo, Night Safari & Jurong Bird Park. We're opening a few more scoop shops in town soon. I am trying to build a fan base here in Singapore of those who love Ben & Jerry's so we can reach out to all you loyal fans to inform you of our new scoop shop openings, freebies, our Free Cone Day, upcoming promos, etc. What better way than to start here.

Just drop me a mail with your name, email address, favorite flavor & any other info you like to share with us to: [email protected]

Burp!!! No more Cherry Garcia for me tonight!

[sundaymorningstaple]

Ben & Jerry's "Tasty Toxins"

Before you go out for ice cream read this!

According to a study published on Junkscience.com unsafe levels of dioxin were measured in a sample of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Ben & Jerry's don't deny the allegations, in fact according to their own promotional literature "Dioxin is known to cause cancer, genetic and reproductive defects and learning disabilities... The only safe level of dioxin exposure is no exposure at all."

Dioxin is a by-product of industrial processes such as bleaching with chlorine bleach to whiten products including food containers. Dioxin can also be created naturally through combustion of plant materials. The authors of the study report that according to Ben & Jerry's and U. S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, the level of dioxin measured could cause about 200 "extra" cancers among lifetime consumers of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

For women, this news could have a profound impact on their reproductive health since dioxin exposure is linked to cancer and is considered a possible cause of endometriosis--a painful condition that can result in fertility problems and/or hysterectomy, as well as chronic pelvic pain and other conditions.

Michael Gough, lead author, said "The level of dioxin in a serving of the Ben & Jerry's World's Best Vanilla Ice Cream tested was almost 200 times greater than the 'virtually safe (daily) dose' determined by the EPA. Mr. Gough is a former government scientist who chaired the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services advisory panel on the effects of dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange on U. S. Air Force personnel in Vietnam.

Gough continued "An independent laboratory measured 0.79 +/- 0.38 parts per trillion of dioxin in the sample of ice cream. Our result has measurement error associated with it and the sample may not be representative of all Ben & Jerry's ice cream, but our result is consistent with current scientific literature."

Gough and Steven Milloy, editor of Junkscience.com, noted that they believe existing scientific evidence does not credibly link low levels of dioxin exposure with human health effects. "But not everyone agrees," said Milloy. "Ben & Jerry's and Greenpeace, the company's source for information about dioxin, have concluded that dioxin is not safe at any level."

Milloy suggested that if dioxin is so dangerous, perhaps Ben & Jerry's should remove its ice cream from the market until it is 'safe,' consistent with the company's promotional literature." In response, Ben & Jerry's said "While Ben & Jerry's may not directly control these dioxin emissions, we do know that a reduced reliance on chlorine as a bleaching agent will lead to a reduction in dioxin releases from paper mills in our waterways." Steps to convert its pint packaging to unbleached paperboard are currently underway.

Here's the original report