SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - Comedian and Jell-O spokesman Bill Cosby urged Utah lawmakers Wednesday to make the flavored gelatin dessert the state's official snack food. "Latest sales figures indicate that Utahans once again consume the most Jell-O in the world," Ann Fudge, a vice president of Kraft Foods, owner of the 104-year-old brand, told a Senate-House conference.
Big Mormon families have long relied on the low-priced dessert, and students at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, gathered 15,000 signatures for a petition urging that it be officially recognized.
"You'll be showing the French Lime Jell-O with shredded carrots" at next year's Winter Olympics, Cosby said.
In fact, the Salt Lake Olympic Committee designed and issued pins for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games featuring a bowl of the quivering green food. They quickly sold out and remain collector's items.