Forbidden ice cream?

I've always liked drinking Black and Tans - and apparently Ben and Jerry's does too. They created a new ice cream flavor with "blended real cream stout" ice cream - and a swirl of chocolate. And they named the flavor "Black and Tan."

This got them in trouble. Tonight Reuters ran a story from Dublin reminding us that the "Black and Tan" was a notorious British paramilitary unit from the 1920s, adding that the name "still arouses strong feelings in Ireland." Wikipedia describes the group's violent history and the origins of their name.

"Any reference on our part to the British Army unit was absolutely unintentional and no ill-will was ever intended," said a Ben & Jerry's spokesman.

"Ben & Jerry's was built on the philosophies of peace and love," he added.

One of its ingredients is "carrageenan." What's that? According to this web page, it's "a colloidal extract from carrageen seaweed and other red algae."

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