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.
Too back, they can all go back to India and let their cows wander the streets while people starve. Good riddance.
Don’t know why you bashing the muslims on this thread they love beef too!
Now yes they not into the pig so that means when we eat hamburgers together they won’t have bacon on theirs but that is more bacon for us!
I say all this because the hindus attacked muslims in India for eating a cow.
I saw to American Muslims, lets all eat hamburgers near the hindus, we will hold the bacon on yours.
Whatever the OP’s source says, this actually happened SEVEN YEARS AGO.
https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2017/12/14/Hindus-have-beef-with-US-gelatin-law
I'm thinking it's racism and intolerance with a soupçon of general ignorance.
They are hostile, against US civilization; screw them, they should get back to their sick bloodthirsty cultures
Now you are going to meh, meh bullShiite aren’t you?
I don’t assimilate. You assimilate to me.
your stupid kuffar head on the block soon
Tell him to eff off and go back to the land of sacred cows and dried human feces blowing in the wind.
What ... ?
Globalism-
I think people with food fetishes are very short sighted. For instance, I am fascinated with akutuq, which is also called Eskimo Ice Cream. It is centuries-old dish that is a favorite throughout Alaska.
The classic northern Alaskan ingredients include hard fat (caribou, bear, muskox), sea-mammal oil (seal, whale), and a flavoring (from either flora or fauna). In Southwest Alaska, native cooks use eulachon, better known as candlefish, mixed with oil and snow.
The ingredients proportions—one part hard fat, one part seal oil, one part water, and four parts plant or protein material—have been the same for centuries. The ingredients are quickly stirred with splayed fingers until it becomes white, smooth, and tripled in volume. Then seal oil is added, a tablespoon at a time, then a little ice cold water and snow to increase the fluffiness. After 45 minutes the mix looks like a shiny white frosting ready to cover a cake. In go the salmonberries and blueberries—and a little sugar, an ingredient the whalers introduced in the mid-1800s. The ice cream created is delicate, slightly sweet, and rich with fruit. The texture is smooth and silky, with the sensuous feel of a French buttercream.
I bet if Eskimo Ice Cream was served in a Ben and Jerry’s container, it would be a national rage with these diet extremists. There would be a demand for it because it was not made from dairy products—until they found out what it really was. LOL!
The lack of tolerance to other religions is disappointing. Hindus are fairly benign. I agree he should read the label and act accordingly but we can agree to disagree more agreeably.
There’s a place at the table for all of God’s creatures, right next to the biscuits and the mashed potatoes.
Run it thru a strainer.
And?
Are you another H1B?
Back when I kept Kosher, there was a short discussion about whether to consider rennet in cheese to be traif (a non-kosher meat source with a milk product, a two-fer no-no.)
We quickly decided good cheese was worth bending the rules hard.
Speaking of a soupçon of ignorance, what race is "muslim"?
Awww, their feewings could get severely hurt........
“Lack of tolerance to other religions is ‘disappointing’”
Yeah well they can take their ‘religions’ back to their shithole countries.
And since you as a simpleton haven’t noticed MURDEROUS Islam is EVERYWHERE, killing infidels
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