"ben and jerrys" news and stories

The battle for late-night supremacy now moves to the ice-cream aisle. On the heels of Stephen Colbert's "AmeriCone Dream" comes a new late-night funnyman-inspired ice cream flavor from Ben & Jerry's. That's right; in conjunction with the two-year anniversary of SNL alum Jimmy Fallon taking over Conan O'Brien's NBC post at Late Night, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have created "Late Night Snack," a premium ice cream complete with Fallon's mug on the lid. Here's how it rates:

The Claims: Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack is vanilla bean ice cream with a salty caramel swirl and fudge-covered potato chip clusters.

Ben & Jerry's, the peace-lovin' ice cream icon, started out as a couple of ex-hippies serving homemade ice cream from a converted gas station in downtown Burlington, Vermont. Since then they've achieved worldwide fame -- and been bought out by Unilever, the giant international conglomerate of more than 400 brands. All along, the company has assured fans that they're the same as they've always been. But yesterday the company dropped a bombshell: They announced they'll be removing "all-natural" from its labels.

Turns out some of Ben & Jerry's flavors contain ingredients that stretch most people's idea of "natural" -- ingredients like hydrogenated oils, invert sugar, and corn syrup. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a watchdog group that advocates for sound policy in nutrition and public health, called Ben & Jerry's out last month in a pointed letter, saying that although the company had "cultivated an image of integrity," it's been "making a misleading use of the term 'natural.' "

Ben & Jerry's has been compliant with the FDA all along -- but CSPI sees that as part of the problem. The FDA hasn't come up with an official definition of "natural," so while the public has one idea of what it means, a food purveyor can have quite another. "Apparently your corporation continues to believe that substances like hydrogenated oil and alkalized cocoa powder are 'all natural,' " the CSPI wrote stiffly.

Beginning this week, and available only at Target stores, Ben & Jerry's is launching two new "philanthropic" flavors, both aimed at encouraging consumers to volunteer in their communities.

Raspberry cheesecake flavor best describes Berry Voluntary, which is laced with white-chocolate chunks and raspberry swirls.

Brownie Chew Gooder is vanilla caramel ice cream loaded with pieces of fudge brownie and topped off with caramel swirl.

Both are available in either a mini cup ($1.25) or a pint ($3.50).

More details after the jump...

Eric Fredette has what is possibly the greatest job on the planet. For the past 14 years he's been a "flavor guru" at Ben & Jerry's, which means he concocts new flavors for the ice-cream company. That's right, he spends his entire working day working with and tasting ice cream.

You are one of the most important people in America. You come up with new Ben & Jerry's flavors.
EF: (Laughs) Yes, I come with new flavors.

Where do your ideas come from?
EF: We get all the food magazines that people see at the checkout line. We monitor trends through magazines and restaurant dessert menus. Sometimes we go on culinary tours and eat desserts at some restaurants and explore specialty markets.

Find out how a flavor gets developed, some of the most popular flavors Eric's worked on and if he ever gets sick of ice cream after the jump.

Just in time for the summer, Ben & Jerry's has announced the arrival of yet another divinely decadent flavor: The newbie is Bonnaroo Buzz, a combination of coffee and malted ice creams swirled with whiskey caramel and studded with English toffee bits.

The flavor was a joint project worked on by Ben & Jerry's and the Bonnaroo Music Festival.

"We worked on various combinations using the festival, the setting, and Tennessee as inspiration. Our Flavor Guru, Eric Fredette worked his magic to come up with the final version which Bonnaroo was very happy with. The Bonnaroo folks were very instrumental trying the flavor along the way and giving us feedback so they ended up with something they had a part in, and were thrilled with," Sean Greenwood, a publicist for the ice cream company told Slashfood.