Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Hindu advocate slams General Mills for using beef-based gelatin in Yoplait yogurt
Religion News Service ^ | March 20, 2024 | Richa Karmarkar

Posted on 03/22/2024 6:56:40 PM PDT by Morgana

RNS) — A Hindu advocate has called for an official apology from General Mills after learning Yoplait brand yogurts contain gelatin sourced from beef.

Rajan Zed, the president of the Universal Society of Hindus, released a statement on March 19, which included a call for the resignation of General Mills CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening.

Zed said he was told by a friend that the popular yogurt product contained gelatin, but he did not know from where. He wrote a query to the consumer care department of General Mills and received a response, he said, after several tries: “The source of gelatin in all Yoplait Yogurt products is beef.”

“I was appalled,” Zed told RNS in an email.

Hindus commonly abstain from eating beef, believing cows are sacred and revered companions to the gods. Many Hindus venerate cattle as gaumata, or cow mother, an animal they see as nourishing both the body and soul through her supply of dairy. And in India, special protective shelters called gaushalas exist to ensure stray cows have a home.

“It is shocking for Hindus to learn that popular Yoplait yogurts, which many have been eating for years, contained beef, while beef was not explicitly mentioned under the ingredients listed on the Yoplait packages.

“It is a very serious issue for the devotees and would severely hurt their feelings if they would come to know that they were unknowingly eating beef-laced Yoplait yogurts,” he added.

In his statement, Zed urged General Mills to recall all Yoplait items containing gelatin where its source is not clearly mentioned and replace them with packages that “markedly declared source of gelatin under the ingredients label.”

“This issue, besides Hindus, also impacts vegetarians, vegans and devotees of other religions who do not consume certain kinds of meat,” Zed told RNS.

Zed’s organization has long been vocal against the “inappropriate usage or trivialization” of sacred Hindu images by corporations, such as a Lord Ganesha yoga towel and an IPA with the name “Kali the Destroyer.”

General Mills did not respond to RNS for comment. Disclosure of the origin of gelatin, whether bovine, porcine or fish, is not a labeling requirement, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In 2017, Zed slammed Kellogg’s for not disclosing the beef gelatin in their products, such as Frosted Pop-Tarts, Frosted Mini-Wheats and Rice Krispies Treats cereal. And more recently in 2023, Zed fought against Baskin Robbins for the marshmallows found in their Rocky Road ice cream, also derived from beef and pork gelatin.

Zed says it is altogether safer for Hindus, and others with religious dietary restrictions, to avoid gelatin — traditionally made from collagen that comes from the bones and hides of cows and pigs — since there is no way to be certain about its origin without writing to the manufacturers. Or, he says, people should look for vegan gelatin alternatives.

“General Mills, which claims to be an ‘innovative company that stands for good,’ should not be in the business of hurting the sentiments of trusting consumers and communities and contradicting its own statement ‘Do the Right Thing, All the Time,'” said Zed.


TOPICS: Eastern Religions
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-75 next last
Dear Rajan Zed,

Yoplait lists their ingredients ON THE BACK OF THE PRODUCT, learn to read idiot.

As for the cow here in America, Beef it's what's for dinner. I'm telling you I will open a steak house next to a hindu temple if one should ever pop up near me.

1 posted on 03/22/2024 6:56:40 PM PDT by Morgana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Morgana

Pagans.


2 posted on 03/22/2024 6:59:05 PM PDT by crusty old prospector
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Morgana

Hindus do not belong in western counties, especially in any positions of power or authority. They are a cancer on the host civilization.


3 posted on 03/22/2024 7:02:30 PM PDT by Clemenza
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Morgana

Holy cow! The Hindus sure can complain even if the cannot read the ingredients label.


4 posted on 03/22/2024 7:04:46 PM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Morgana

That’s what makes it taste so dam good.


5 posted on 03/22/2024 7:04:51 PM PDT by Beowulf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Morgana

Rajan can go back to India.


6 posted on 03/22/2024 7:05:34 PM PDT by Gaffer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Morgana

Our Father God , put before us beasts and plant for OUR use. India is an unforgiving country with no sense of measure in any direction. The filth and no value of life is beyond repair. I as a Christian am embarrassed to even say this.


7 posted on 03/22/2024 7:07:29 PM PDT by mythenjoseph (Islam has NO place in a Christian society.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Morgana

Old controversy was over making cheese with “rennet.”
Pig rennet turned off Muslims and Jews, and natural foods types.
Update:
“The use of pig rennet became obsolete in industrial cheese production because it is not very stable and operates at a pH range that is narrower than that of calf rennet; a standardization to obtain constant enzyme activity in pig rennet is more difficult than in calf rennet.”


I was told a little beef fat is put into McDonald’s fries to enhance the flavor people in test groups likes.

I saw once that the main reason Hindus in India shun cattle for food is the scrappy, weedlike grass in most of India is not able to support cattle grazing, unlike Europe and the US. So along the way the skinny cattle became revered as holy.


8 posted on 03/22/2024 7:08:46 PM PDT by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Morgana

Gelatin was made from ground hooves and cartilage, iirc., learned about “parts” use fifty years ago. Allantoin in shampoo as a volume enhancer/ protein booster is from bovine placental fluids.


9 posted on 03/22/2024 7:10:06 PM PDT by drSteve78 (Je suis Deplorable. Even more so)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Morgana

Then don’t eat it. Years ago people complained about McDonalds using beef tallow to fry their French fries. Now they are nowhere near as tasty as they used to be.


10 posted on 03/22/2024 7:11:07 PM PDT by McGavin999 ( A sense of humor is a sign of intelligence, leftists have no sense of humor, therefore……)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Morgana
Dude.

If it is vegan or vegetarian it will say so on the label.

If it is kosher it will say so on the label.

If it is halal it will say it on the label.

If it does not. It probably is not.

Wait until he learns how we make cheese. He is going to flip.

11 posted on 03/22/2024 7:11:20 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Roses are red, Violets are blue, I love being on the government watch list, along with all of you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Beowulf

“I am not a vegetarian myself but I eat animals that are.”
——Groucho Marx


12 posted on 03/22/2024 7:11:33 PM PDT by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Morgana

Get the fk out of our country and take all muslims with you


13 posted on 03/22/2024 7:13:24 PM PDT by A strike (There is no tyranny that cannot be justified by 'climate change')
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: McGavin999

Bkmk


14 posted on 03/22/2024 7:15:40 PM PDT by ptsal (Vote R.E.D. >>>Remove Every Democrat ***)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Morgana

I’ve been to India a couple of times for work. Cows are sacred and they treat dogs like crap. That’s already a problem for me. And try to speak up about that in India. But they come here and want to make us do things their way. Do something about the curry + B.O. stink before telling us what to do.


15 posted on 03/22/2024 7:17:29 PM PDT by mikey_hates_everything
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Morgana

diversity is so awesome /s


16 posted on 03/22/2024 7:19:01 PM PDT by imabadboy99
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Clemenza

My question is whether the Hindu belief in God is genuine since their various prayers to apparent deities that are substitutes. Their Krishna is cited as over all.

Example: Hindus often begin any important task or venture by offering prayers to Ganesha, seeking his blessings and guidance. He is the embodiment of wisdom and intelligence.
Pictures of Ganesha:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1390018470/ganesh-large-vintage-style-indian-hindu?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_mediu

Judeo-Christian idea is monotheism, as the Shma in Judaism:
The LORD is our God, the LORD is one.

But apparently there are 33 elements addressed by Hindu worshippers—

Twelve Adityas (personified deities) – Indra (Shakra), Aryaman, Tvashtr, Varuna, Bhaga, Savitr, Vivasvat, Amsha, Mitra, Pushan, Daksha, Vishnu (This list sometimes varies in particulars)
Eleven Rudras, consisting of Aja, Ekapada, Ahirbudhanya, Tvasta, Rudra, Hara, Sambhu, Trayambaka, Aparajita, Ishana, and Tribhuvana.


17 posted on 03/22/2024 7:20:15 PM PDT by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: All

Hindus don’t belong in the West. They should leave.


18 posted on 03/22/2024 7:22:12 PM PDT by escapefromboston (Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: A strike

“...take all muslims with you”
Take THE muslims with you


19 posted on 03/22/2024 7:23:28 PM PDT by A strike (There is no tyranny that cannot be justified by 'climate change')
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Gaffer

damn straight !!!


20 posted on 03/22/2024 7:24:19 PM PDT by A strike (There is no tyranny that cannot be justified by 'climate change')
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-75 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson