Ben & Jerry's 'fools' us into taking action

Ben & Jerry's revealed today that they were behind a website that touted "perfect milk from perfect cows." It was their April Fool's joke with a serious message behind it.

Wed, Apr 01 2009 at 2:50 PM

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Food Safety

For weeks there have been people talking on blogs and on twitter about a website called Cyclonedairy.com. Cyclone Dairy was touting itself as the first dairy to “offer great tasting products made exclusively from cloned cows. The website initially looked legitimate. Some of the information on the website, particularly on the Q&A portion (Q: Are there any ethical issues about cloning? A: No.), made some people wonder if it was a hoax to be revealed on April Fools Day.

Turns out It was a hoax perpetrated by Ben & Jerry’s. If you go to the website now, it has a video that explains what they were trying to do. They wanted to gage the public’s reaction to cloned milk. They went to NYC and passed off regular milk as “perfect milk from perfect cows” – cloned cows. Mostly, people were confused, repulsed and very reluctant to try it.

The actual Ben & Jerry’s website has some information about products from cloned animals that they think the public needs to know.

Did you know that in January 2008, the U.S Food and Drug Administration declared milk and meat from cloned animals safe for human consumption, allowing cloned food products to enter the U.S. food supply?

We believe you should have the right to choose which foods you eat - and not to eat cloned foods if you don't want to. And that's why Ben & Jerry’s believes we need a national clone tracking system, so people and companies can know where their food is coming from.

They also want the public to take action. A link on the website leads you to the True Food Network where you can let congress know that you believe you have the right to be informed if the products you are eating or drinking come from cloned animals. Specifically, they are asking consumers to let Congress know they want “a national DNA-based tracking system for cloned animals and their offspring.”

What do you think? Are you comfortable with products from cloned animals?

Image: Cyclonedairy.com

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