With Ben & Jerryโs CEO Jostein Solheimย at his side, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlinย signed the nationโs first law requiring labeling of foods made with GMO ingredients.ย Ben & Jerryโs support of the law โย a swirl of savvy public relations, financial backing, and grassroots activism โย pits the ice cream maker against the worldโs biggest food companies, including its own corporate parent. Unilever has openly opposed state efforts to legislate GMO labeling, throwing money into campaigns to defeat an initiative inย California. But it has quietly allowed Ben & Jerryโs to assert itself as a vocal proponent of such laws, especially in Vermont.
โI donโt think they will ever want the potentially massive negative PR of trying to silence B&J,โ saidย Andrew Wood, anย analystย at Sanford C. Bernstein.
If Unilever tries to play both sides of the issue, it may wind up hurting itself and Ben & Jerryโs. โIn the short run, they might get away with ignoring what B&J is doing, but sooner or later it will catch up with them,โ saidย Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition and public health atย New Yorkย University and the author of โFood Politics,โ a book about how the food industry influences nutrition policy.
Share this article
Ben & Jerryโs has never shied away from speaking out on social issues, and Unilever, since acquiring the company in 2000, has not interfered. Since 1985, Ben & Jerryโs has donated a portion of its profits to community projects across the U.S. In 1996, the company sued the city ofย Chicagoย and the state ofย Illinoisย for the right to label its products as free of recombinant bovine growth hormone, which is given to cows to boost milk production. A condition of Unileverโs acquisition was that Ben & Jerryโs would have a separate board of directors not chosen by its owner.
Rad the full, original article:ย Ben & Jerryโs throws fudge brownie into GMO food fight
