"The breast is best! Won't you give cows and their babies a break and our health a boost by switching from cow's milk to breast milk in Ben and Jerry's ice cream?" Tracy Reiman, vice-president of the Virginia-based nonprofit organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), said in her letter to Ben and Jerry's.
The organization cites Storchen, a new restaurant in Switzerland that earlier announced plans to replace at least 75% of the cow milk that it uses in its ice-cream with milk from female breasts.
Ben and Jerry's, however, were cautious in their response.
"We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to the issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child," the company said in a statement.
PETA failed to mention in its letter that the Swiss restaurant abandoned its plans after government inspectors warned of possible legal action, saying that human milk was not on the list of approved dairy products.
