Members of America’s Hindu community are demanding that the CEO of cereal maker Kellogg Co. resign for failing to disclose the inclusion of beef in its products.
Hindus, many of whom avoid eating beef products, are protesting the use of gelatin that is included in some of Kellogg’s foods, 247Wall Street.com reported.
Gelatin is made of either beef or pork and serves as an ingredient typically added to products such as Rice Krispies Treats, fruit snacks, and many others. Hindus note that Kellogg does not disclose that gelatin may include beef when listing its ingredients.
Rajan Zed, President of the Universal Society of Hinduism, said, “It was shocking for Hindus to learn that some of the cereals, etc., they had been eating for years contained beef while there was no mention of beef under the ingredients mentioned on the boxes/packages.”
Zed also noted that Kellogg admitted via email that some of its gelatin products might include beef.
Federal Food and Drug Administration rules do not demand the disclosure of the origin of gelatin, but Zed says that Kellogg is not properly serving the three million American Hindus who have religious restrictions on beef.
However, Mr. Zed may not be speaking for all or even a majority of Hindus in the U.S.A. In fact, because Hinduism does not have the same sort of all encompassing rules as Islam or Judaism where it concerns conventions for dress or consumption of food, many Hindus do not feel their religion includes any restrictions at all on eating beef.
While some individuals and factions of the family of beliefs encompassed under Hinduism restrict or eschew eating beef, there are no religion-wide proscriptions against eating beef.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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