Lawyers scream about ice cream

Trial lawyers and a consumer health group are teaming up to go after America’s ice cream, sending out legal notices to six major chains this week as the group released a study criticizing ice cream’s nutritional value.

They sent letters to Baskin-Robbins Inc., Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holdings Inc., Cold Stone Creamery, the Haagen-Dazs Shoppes Inc., TCBY and Friendly Ice Cream Corp., telling the chains to add healthier alternatives and put nutritional facts on their store menu boards or face potential litigation.

“Your failure to disclose such obviously material information as unusually large calorie and saturated-fat loads may violate state consumer-protection laws and/or your common-law duty to disclose material facts, and may invite lawsuits from concerned consumers, legal-action organizations, or even state officials,” read one letter addressed to Haagen-Dazs President David Keil.

The letter was signed by George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf III, a leader in the obesity-lawsuit movement, and Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

It’s the third type of notice Mr. Banzhaf has sent in the last month since organizing a conference on obesity lawsuits.

The warning highlights a report released Wednesday — National Ice Cream Day — by the CSPI, a Washington nonprofit, health-advocacy group that has been criticizing a range of snacks and fatty foods for the last 30 years.

The center, which has reported health problems with pizza, movie theater popcorn and Chinese food, among others, in the past, said a number of sundaes, waffle cones and milkshakes often have more than a entire day’s worth of fat and calories in one serving.

“We know consumers don’t assume that ice cream is a diet food, but most probably aren’t aware how much stuff is in one portion,” Mr. Banzhaf said.

For example, a Haagen-Dazs Mint-Chip Dazzler has 1,270 calories and 38 grams of saturated fat, about the same as eating a steak, salad and baked potato, the report said.

But ice cream lovers and manufacturers in the $20 billion industry argue the dairy food is an “indulgence” that consumers understand is naturally high in fat.

The United States leads the world in annual production of ice cream and related frozen desserts, with more than 1.6 billion gallons in 2001, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We are making products available that are low in fat, but most people know that ice cream is an indulgent product to be enjoyed in moderation,” Ben & Jerry’s spokeswoman Chrystie Heimert said.

Kevin Donnellan, spokesman for Cold Stone Creamery, said the company had not received the letter. The company sells lower-calorie options, such as yogurt, sorbet and low-fat mix-ins.

Susan Ruland, spokeswoman of the international Ice Cream Association, part of a Washington trade group, said the task of putting out nutritional content would be “too cumbersome” for most restaurants.

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