Ben & Jerry's ice cream is a delicious treat that can be found in most grocery stores, and is a favorite staple in many homes. They proudly state on their pints that they "strive to make the best possible ice cream in the best possible way." It's obvious that they, as a company, care about the quality of their products as well as social issues. (Check out the "issues we care about" section of their website here: http://www.benjerry.com/values/issues-we-care-about) However, when I contacted them, through Facebook, asking them to remove carrageenan from their ice cream they replied with "Hi Galen, thanks for checking in on us. At this time we do not have plans to remove this stabilizer from our ingredients." Help me get through to them! They need to remove carrageenan from their ice cream. I believe that with enough people, we can make this change happen. Never heard of carrageenan? Don't know why we shouldn't be eating it? Here's some information about carrageenan: Many food manufacturers—even some makers of commercial organic foods—are adding "carrageenan" to foods like yogurt, chocolate, soymilk, and even ice cream to give the foods a thicker consistency and to make low-fat versions taste fuller. Derived from red seaweed, it's often added to beverages to keep their ingredients from separating; you'll find it in many nutritional shakes, milk products, and milk replacements. The ingredient even crops up in certain frozen dinners, soups, and commercial broth products. The problem: carrageenan could be causing inflammation, gut irritation, and even cancer. "What's striking to me is that carrageenan has no nutritional value," says Charlotte Vallaeys, director of farm and food policy at the Cornucopia Institute, an organic watchdog group that promotes family-scale farming. The organization has been critical of carrageenan's approved use in organics and recently launched a nationwide petition urging the FDA to ban the ingredient from the food supply. Its use in beverage products could be completely eliminated if companies printed "Shake Well" on their packages, since carrageenan essentially makes sure liquids remain mixed. Although derived from a natural source, carrageenan appears to be particularly destructive to the digestive system, triggering an immune response similar to that your body has when invaded by pathogens like Salmonella. The result: "Carrageenan predictably causes inflammation, which can lead to ulcerations and bleeding," explains veteran carrageenan researcher Joanne Tobacman, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Illinois School of Medicine at Chicago. She says the food ingredient irritates by activating an immune response that dials up inflammation. Her previous work showed a concerning connection between carrageenan and gastrointestinal cancer in lab animals, and she's involved with ongoing research funded through the National Institutes of Health that is investigating carrageenan's effect on ulcerative colitis and other diseases like diabetes. The concern over food-grade carrageenan isn't new. Beginning in the 1960s, researchers started linking the ingredient to gastrointestinal disease in lab animals, including ulcerative colitis, intestinal lesions, and colon cancer. Source: http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/carrageenan-natural-ingredient-you-should-ban-your-diet The Cornicopia Institute's petition to to the FDA: http://www.cornucopia.org/carrageenanfda/