Welcome to the GMO free zone of the future

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As we head into the hot summer, what sounds great? Well, ice cream, of course! And who is in the news? Ben and Jerry’s.

According to the Huffington Post, Ben and Jerry’s is removing a controversial ingredient from its ice cream: Genetically-modified organisms (or GMOs). The back story is that only 80% of Ben & Jerry’s ingredients are sourced non-GMO, according to the ice cream maker. The conversion process to remove the remaining GMOs may continue into 2014.

Questions:
1. Why are foods genetically modified in the first place?
2. What did Unilever, Ben and Jerry’s parent company, do to avoid labeling GMO’s in California? What other companies did the same thing?
3. How should the companies that you mentioned in Question 2 record these costs? Discuss these cost presentations in terms of the financial records and financial statements.

Source:

Stuart, H. (2013). Ben & Jerry’s Will Stop Using Genetically-Modified Ingredients, Company Says. The Huffington Post, June 2 (Retrievable online at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/02/ben-and-jerrys-gmos-genetically-modified_n_3372451.html?utm_hp_ref=business)