Unilever suing Hampton Creek to get Just Mayo removed from shelves

[Calliegirl]

Apparently Unilever's mayo sales have gone down since Just Mayo came out, so now they're suing Hampton Creek claiming fraudulent advertising since it doesn't contain eggs. I hope they don't put Hampton Creek out of business because of the legal fees.

Multinational consumer goods maker Unilever has filed suit in federal court in Newark against an upstart maker of vegan mayonnaise, claiming its condiment is falsely labeled because it contains no eggs.

By calling its spread Just Mayo, Hampton Creek Inc. of San Francisco is engaging in false advertising in violation of the Lanham Act, according to the suit filed by Conopco Inc. of Englewood Cliffs, N.J., doing business as Unilever. The suit also brings a claim under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act.

Unilever is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act to restrain further acts of false advertising and unfair competition, as well as recovery for reasonable damages caused by Hampton Creek’s acts.

Unilever is seeking to restrain Hampton Creek from referring to the product it sells as Just Mayo as mayonnaise, and from claiming that the product is superior in taste to the Hellman’s and Best Foods brands. The suit is also seeking the recall or withdrawal of all commercial labels, promotional materials, commercials or letters containing false advertising of Just Mayo...

Suit Claims Vegan Mayonnaise Not The Genuine Article

There's a petition out, although I don't know what good it'll actually do.
Petition · Stop Bullying Sustainable Food Companies · Change.org

 

[Blobbenstein]

I'm sick of this legal pedantry about what foods can be called. If Mayonnaise was a town, that had exclusive rights to using the word, then ok, but who the **** defined mayonnaise as having to have egg....was it the animal abuse egg god?

 

[KLS52]

 

[KLS52]

They should change the label to Just "Not" Mayo, then.
I guess the definition of mayonnaise is oil, eggs, etc.
This is so annoying/aggravating.

 

[Blobbenstein]

what about 'MayNo'?

 

[Clueless Git]

what about 'MayNo'?

Aye, with tag-lines though ...

"Guaranteed free from gallus gallus domesticus ovulations"

"MayNo; Just SayNo to eating chickens periods"

"No ingredients used in the making of this product were extracted from an animals ***-hole"

 

[shyvas]

If a manufacturer calls a product 'eggless' or 'dairy free', it is as clear as water.

I think that the manufacturer in question, is just going to get a lot of publicity.

Plamil Products

 

[Calliegirl]

On Facebook someone suggested Better Than Mayo.

 

[Envy]

Thank you American corporations.

 

[flyingsnail]

Thank you American corporations.

Hampton's is a business too.....it just that unilever has a lot more talent on its side.

I think Hampton should have expected this......they even used an egg shape in their logo. I think the case against them is pretty strong, without looking carefully someone would mistake it for a traditional mayonnaise product which is defined to be derived from eggs. If I saw the product, and didn't already know what it was, I would think it was some sort of "natural" mayonnaise product.

 

[ledboots]

Mayonnaise is mostly oil with a little egg, and Hampton foods' product is called "mayo", which could be thought of like Cheeze or Fakin' Bacon. I don't see why egg is a necessary ingredient.

 

[ledboots]

On Facebook someone suggested Better Than Mayo.

That's Veganaise's tag line though Better Than Mayo.

 

[Amy SF]

If Unilever didn't lose market share to vegan and "natural" brands like Hampton, they wouldn't care. I wouldn't be surprised if the country's dairy farmers sued the makers of Silk plant milks for calling their products "milk" and supposedly confusing consumers, just because more and more people are buying plant milks instead of dairy milk.

I signed the petition. It might do some good if enough people made a fuss about it on the internet.

 

[Calliegirl]

If Unilever didn't lose market share to vegan and "natural" brands like Hampton, they wouldn't care. I wouldn't be surprised if the country's dairy farmers sued the makers of Silk plant milks for calling their products "milk" and supposedly confusing consumers, just because more and more people are buying plant milks instead of dairy milk.

They did try to sue them and lost.
Judge Dismisses ‘Implausible’ Soymilk Mislabeling Class Action Lawsuit
They also tried to get the FDA to change the definition of milk to not allow plant based milk to use the word milk.
Got milk? Only if it comes from a cow, group argues - USATODAY.com

And in Sweden, the dairy industry is suing Oatly for making cow's milk sound like it's bad for you.
www.naturalproductsonline.co.uk | NP NEWS | The online home of Natural Products magazine

 

[Amy SF]

Holy crap.

 

[shyvas]

They did try to sue them and lost.
Judge Dismisses ‘Implausible’ Soymilk Mislabeling Class Action Lawsuit
They also tried to get the FDA to change the definition of milk to not allow plant based milk to use the word milk.
Got milk? Only if it comes from a cow, group argues - USATODAY.com

And in Sweden, the dairy industry is suing Oatly for making cow's milk sound like it's bad for you.
www.naturalproductsonline.co.uk | NP NEWS | The online home of Natural Products magazine

I love Oatly products and hope that the dairy industry loses the case.

 

[Second Summer]

I love Oatly products and hope that the dairy industry loses the case.

Agreed! Oatly is a fantastic plant milk, and they have some other nice products as well.

That song implies there's something wrong with soya milk as well, though. That I don't agree with! I'm not going to file a lawsuit over it, though!

 

[flyingsnail]

Mayonnaise is mostly oil with a little egg, and Hampton foods' product is called "mayo", which could be thought of like Cheeze or Fakin' Bacon. I don't see why egg is a necessary ingredient.

"Mayo" is short for mayonnaise so it isn't like "cheeze" and other such terms. But they called it "just mayo".....which, I think, makes the case against them even stronger. I looked at the packaging at the store today and you really have to read the fine print to figure out that it doesn't contain egg.

 

[flyingsnail]

I'm sick of this legal pedantry about what foods can be called.

Why? Would you prefer it if food manufactures could put whatever they want on a label and you'd have to rigorously read every label to make sure you're buying what you think you're buying?

 

[Blobbenstein]

Why? Would you prefer it if food manufactures could put whatever they want on a label and you'd have to rigorously read every label to make sure you're buying what you think you're buying?

If you want to know what is in a food, you really have to read the label anyway.
Do people by mayo just specifically so they can ingest egg? Or do they just buy something to put on their salad etc?