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Famed Ice Cream Co. Tests “Fake” Cloned Cow Milk on Consumers to Raise Awareness to Create a U. S. Cloned Animal Tracking System      April 1, 2009, New York, NY: Famed “hippy-inspired” ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s sent a decked out street team to New York City to gauge consumer reaction to cloned cow milk in ice cream and to raise awareness, in their opinion, for the need to implement a U.S. Cloned Animal Tracking System.   So, Ben & Jerry’s fabricated a brand new dairy, created a website and logo – called “Cyclone Dairy,” so the street team members could adorn authentic corporate garb, approached unsuspecting consumers to taste test what they were led to believe was milk from cloned cows.  Consumers were given pint samples with Cyclone Dairy labels that clearly read: Perfect Cows. Perfect Milk. Whole Milk From 100% Cloned Cows. The samples actually contained ordinary milk.    The Cyclone Dairy street teams gathered a wide array of feedback from consumers in New York City who thought they were being given milk from cloned cows. After individuals participated in the alleged cloned cow milk taste test, they were made aware of the so called “hoax.”  In January 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared milk and meat from cloned animals safe for human consumption, thereby enabling cloned food products to enter the U.S. food supply chain. However, since there is currently no tracking system in place, labels do not indicate whether or not the packaged food contains product from cloned animals. According to The Consumer Reports National Research Center, 94% of Americans agree that meat and dairy products from cloned animals should be labeled as such. (The Consumer Reports National Research Center conducted a telephone survey of a nationally representative probability sample of telephone households. 1,001 interviews were completed among adults aged 18+. Interviewing took place over October 23-26, 2008. The margin of error is +/- 3.2% at a 95% confidence level.) A national poll conducted by Consumers Union stated that more than 6 in 10 Americans would not buy meat or milk products from genetically engineered animals or milk and milk products from cloned animals or their offspring. Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of opposing issues surrounding cloned animals, including a cow march on Capitol Hill in March 2007. Consumers concerned about this issue who wish to avoid eating cloned animals can visit BenJerry.com for more information on how to be an advocate for a cloned animal tracking system.