New Jersey's Halo Farm is Suing Halo Top Ice Cream

But not everyone is loving Halo Top as much as, say, the writer who ate nothing but Halo Top ice cream for ten straight days. A dairy producer in New Jersey might be high among Halo Top’s list of detractors, having filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement. That Jersey company’s name? Halo Farms.

Halo Farms is not a farm, exactly, but more of a processor for small dairy farms near its Lawrence, NJ headquarters. Halo Farms, in addition to running a trio of “ice cream taverns” (these are sort of like malt shops), sells 45 flavors of ice cream made from milk from those small farmers. When it opened in 1975, founded by Jerry Reilly, the former owner of a large baking company, it was far ahead of its time, selling milk with no growth hormones, from only cows within a two-hour drive of the headquarters, and a commitment to keeping prices low.

Halo Farms started making and selling ice cream in 1980, and later began selling iced tea and fruit juices. Its products are only found in New Jersey – the company prides itself on forcing freshness by not investing in shipping infrastructure – and has a cult following in the Trenton area.

Earlier this month, Halo Farms filed its copyright infringement lawsuit against the California-based Halo Top, which has recently expanded into New Jersey. The suit accuses Halo Top of confusing New Jerseyites into thinking that Halo Top – which prominently advertises itself as low-calorie and high-protein – is an offshoot of Halo Farms ice cream. But that’s not all: the suit also colorfully suggests that Halo Top is such a lousy ice cream that it may damage the reputation of Halo Farms.

The suit explains that Halo Top’s ingredients have an “inferior taste and mouthfeel” and may cause diarrhea, flatulence, or intestinal discomfort due to the ingredients that allow Halo Top to have a lower fat and calorie content. (These claims are unproven and in some cases unlikely; Halo Top’s main sweetener, erythritol, is a naturally-occurring sweetener that is capable of causing stomach issues only in ridiculously high doses. Prebiotic fiber, which Halo Top uses to achieve a creamy texture without fat, could maybe cause some bloating in some patients, or could have the complete opposite effect and cause more regularity as well as helping out your immune system.)

Halo Farms is seeking a full recall of all Halo Top products, destruction of any products currently in circulation, a name change, and damages. Halo Top did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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