Just Mayo Reaches Agreement With FDA to Keep Name, Change Label
December 17 2015 - 6:46PM
Dow Jones News
By Annie Gasparro
The maker of Just Mayo, a vegan alternative to traditional
mayonnaise, will keep the name but change its label after settling
a dispute with federal regulators that highlighted the confusion
being stirred up by fast-changing consumer food preferences.
The agreement between Hampton Creek Inc. and the Food and Drug
Administration wraps up a labeling saga that began over a year ago,
when industry giant Unilever PLC, which makes Hellmann's
mayonnaise, filed a lawsuit against Hampton Creek for false
advertising.
Unilever argued Just Mayo shouldn't use the abbreviation for
mayonnaise since its product doesn't contain eggs, which FDA rules
state must be an ingredient for a spread to be called
mayonnaise.
Unilever, under pressure from an online petition backing Just
Mayo, dropped the lawsuit last December. But the FDA in August
followed up with a letter to Hampton Creek warning that use of
"mayo" in the product's name, along with the image of an egg in
Just Mayo's logo, could mislead consumers "to believe that the
products are the standardized food, mayonnaise."
Hampton Creek, a California startup founded in 2011 with
prominent investors including Bill Gates, has argued that its
product is healthier and better for the environment. While Just
Mayo is egg-free, Hampton Creek Chief Executive Josh Tetrick also
emphasized that it doesn't use the term "mayonnaise," only
"mayo."
"We have to be able to convey what our product is to consumers
and connect it back to the food they know, and we can't do that
without the 'Mayo' name," Mr. Tetrick said in an interview
Thursday.
On Just Mayo's new label, unveiled Thursday, its logo--an egg
beyond the silhouette of a pea shoot symbolizing its plant-based
ingredients--remains but appears smaller. The words "egg-free" are
larger. It also adds "Spread & Dressing."
The FDA believes Hampton Creek "committed to making labeling
changes to ensure its products are labeled in a manner that is
truthful and not misleading," an FDA representative said in a
statement. "Therefore, the FDA considers the issues cited in the
warning letter to be resolved."
Smaller food makers like Hampton Creek are adding pressure to
the large, established players in the food industry, such as
Unilever and General Mills Inc. U.S. consumers are increasingly
looking for local, simpler and more transparent brands and are
inherently distrustful of behemoth companies.
While the agreement with the FDA represents a qualified win for
Hampton Creek, which also makes eggless cookie dough and other
products, the company still could face other hurdles, as the egg
industry pushes back, too.
Write to Annie Gasparro at annie.gasparro@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 17, 2015 18:31 ET (23:31 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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