By Bob McCauley
I wanted to title this blog, Ben & Jerry’s: “The Dangerous Health Product Marketed as Fun and Flavor” because that’s what it is. But to think of their employees who get to eat as much of it as they want, I reconsidered and gave it a more appropriate title.
I use to be a huge fan of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream back in the 80’s when they first got popular. It was a great product with novel flavors and cool colorful packaging. It was the first time I had ever eaten “gourmet” ice cream because now Ben & Jerry’s had made it hip. They had come out of nowhere and now were David challenging corporate giant Häagen-Dazs ice cream for freezer space. I liked Ben & Jerry’s so much I took my family to Vermont to see where they made it. I couldn’t believe there was such a socially conscious corporation in existence.
After I got into the health business 15 years ago I discovered how deadly dairy products are to our health, especially high fat dairy such as the kind of ice cream Ben & Jerry’s marketed. Co-founder Ben Cohen reportedly has suffered from heart disease for more than two decades.
Now Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream has at long last admitted that, not only is it not “All Natural” as they have claimed since their company’s inception, but that it actually contains deadly partially hydrogenated oils better known as trans fats. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream also contains alkalized cocoa, corn syrup and artificial vanilla (vanillin) or other ingredients that either don’t exist in nature or that have been chemically modified. All Natural: What a crock. Ben & Jerry are a couple of phonies, or at least the corporate giant, Unilever, these two hypocrites sold out to is. They screwed over their franchisees in various ways and many have concluded that Ben & Jerry’s has become just “another corporation”, a far cry from the “socially conscious” corporation it once was. Numerous blogs have denounced founders Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield as a couple of garden variety sellouts.
Ben & Jerry’s also claimed for year that their ice was bovine growth hormone, or BGH, free, which any dairy farmer will tell you is impossible to prove. So if you can’t prove it, make the claim anyway.
It’s bad enough that high fat ice cream has been marketed to the public as a relatively harmless treat, it is actually a junk-food product that contain trans fats and corn syrup, two of the worst ingredients that are commonly put into processed food that leads to disease on the fast track. Let there be no doubt about it. High saturated-fat foods put us at significantly higher risk of coronary heart and other vascular diseases. Ben & Jerry’s has always maintained that at worst, their colorfully packaged product simply adds a few pounds to the midriff and that can easily be removed by exercise. When I visited there, they stated that their employees got free gym memberships to “work off the extra pounds that their job sometimes can put on them. My conclusion is that offering your employees all the ice cream they can eat and then give them a benefit at a gym to work off those calories. High saturated fat ice cream, or any other animal product for that matter, is extremely dangerous to our health, which is why I have deemed it the Unhealthiest Employee Benefit Ever!
Dr. Bob’s Blog is not intended as medical advice. The writings and statements on this website have not reviewed and/or approved by the FDA. Our products are not meant to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Rather they are meant to demonstrate that aging can be slowed and even reversed and that Great Health achieved when the most fundamental nutritional needs of the human body are met. Always consult a medical doctor or other medical professional when you consider it necessary.
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About Bob McCauley
Bob McCauley, ND (Robert F., Jr.) was raised in Lansing, Michigan and attended Michigan State University (BA, 1980 in Journalism). He is a naturopathic doctor, Master Herbalist and a Certified Nutritional Consultant. He has traveled extensively, both domestically and abroad, visiting over 32 countries. He published Confessions of a Body Builder: Rejuvenating the Body with Spirulina, Chlorella, Raw Foods and Ionized Water (2000), Achieving Great Health (2005), The Miraculous Properties of Ionized Water, (2006) which is the only book on the market that exclusively addresses Ionized Water, Twelve (Fiction, 2007) and Honoring the Temple of God (2008). He considers himself a Naturalist, meaning he pursues health in the most natural way possible. He studies and promotes nature as the only way to true health.
From 2002-2004 he hosted the radio program Achieving Great Health, which was heard by thousands of people each day. His guests included some of the most well-known and respected names in the natural health world.
With the help of his father, Dr. Robert F. McCauley, Sr. (Doctorate in Environmental Engineering, MIT, 1953) they started Spartan Water Company in 1992, which sold vended water machines in supermarkets. Robert Jr. founded Spartan Enterprises, Inc. in 1993. He is a Certified Water Technician with the State of Michigan. He is also a Type II Public Water Supply Specialist and has the certifications of S-5 and D-5. The McCauley family has a long history in the water industry. Bob's father pioneered environmental issues regarding ground water and drinking water quality. He received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1953 for his thesis on removing radioactive strontium from water. He earned his doctorate in Environmental Engineering in less than 2 years, one of the shortest doctoral studies in the history of MIT. He taught civil, sanitary and environmental engineering at Michigan State University for 18 years before retiring to run Wolverine Engineers & Surveyors of Mason, Michigan, for 17 years. His reputation throughout Michigan as a water quality expert was legendary. Bob worked for his father's company for 12 years learning the water business, which dealt primarily with municipalities, including water quality and sanitary sewer issues.
After apprenticing with his father, Bob moved on to the bottled water business. He established greater Michigan's biggest selling bottled water: Michigan Mineral – Premium Natural Water. He was introduced to Ionized Water in 1995 and has done more to promote Ionized Water than anyone else in the industry. Bob often lectures and offers seminars on his Seven Component Natural Health Protocol .
Bob is a Certified Nutritional Consultant and a Certified Master Herbalist. He is also a 3rd Degree Black Belt and Certified Instructor of Songahm Taekwondo (American Taekwondo Association).
That sounds like employee death trap Bob not employee benefits.