(Photo: AVC Photo Studio/Shutterstock.com)

Ben & Jerry's Removes "Happy Cows" Claim From Ice Cream After Lawsuit

Ben & Jerry’s has removed the “happy cows” claim from its products after multiple lawsuits were raised against the ice cream company.

The brand previously claimed that milk used for its dairy ice cream came from “happy cows” — much of this milk is now known to be sourced from dairy factory farms.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) filed a lawsuit against Ben & Jerry’s in 2018, stating that the company was misrepresenting its dairy source. James Ehlers — an environmentalist from Vermont — filed a class action lawsuit with the same complaint in 2019.

The ice cream giant has now responded to the lawsuits by declaring it will remove all mention of “happy cows” from packaging and advertising.

“The removal of misleading ‘happy cow’ claims is a victory for consumers and an indication that Ben & Jerry’s can’t back up those claims” said Ronnie Cummins, International Director of the OCA.

The ice cream company will no longer state its milk comes from happy cows (Photo: David MG/Shutterstock.com)

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Ben & Jerry’s Happy Cows

The Caring Dairy initiative was set up by the ice cream brand to encourage better welfare standards at dairy farms. Workers at these farms were required to go to a series of workshops to improve conditions for the cows.

In his lawsuit, Ehler alleged that although the company said its ice cream is “made with milk and cream sourced exclusively from ‘happy cows’ on Vermont dairies that participate in a special, humane Caring Dairy program” that this wasn’t actually the case.

“In reality,” Ehler said, “only a minority percentage of the milk and cream in the products actually is sourced from these ‘happy cows’ on Caring Dairy farms.”

Do you think Ben & Jerry’s should do more for the welfare of its cows? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!