The
Grocer magazine reported two yoghurt labelling tales last
week.
The first concerns two companies fighting over the meaning of
"Greek yoghurt" with Fage claiming purchasers will be misled into
believing rival manufacturer Chobani's product labelled as such is
actually made in Greece. Chobani is preparing to argue in the High
Court that the phrase is in common use and understood to mean a
style of yoghurt and not its place of manufacture but has agreed to
change its labelling to "Greek strained" in the
interim.
A separate story reveals that yoghurt manufacturers are protesting
against a European Commission Regulation limiting health
claims on food products. The 222 descriptions allowed under the
Regulation, due to come into force on 14th December, exclude the
term "probiotic". The Yoghurt and Live Fermented Milks Association is
lobbying to have 'probiotic' recognised as a so-called
general descriptor under Article 1(4) of the EU Nutrition and Health Claims
Regulation instead.
Unfortunately for the manufacturers adding "probiotic" to
the general descriptors list would not be effected soon enough
counteract the requirement to remove the term in December.
It seems that will be a lot of repackaging in the sector as
manufacturers come up with new descriptions to make their product
stand out from this increasingly crowded market. Indeed, there are
already reports that they are finding new ways to target consumers concerned
with health and wellbeing.
TomiLawyer and IP disputes expert,
Nick Kounoupias commented:
"One of the key features of a brand name or a trade mark is to
act as a badge of origin and to differentiate the products of one
supplier from those of another. In this case we have the unusual
situation of a US based entity, presumably using US ingredients,
trying to pass off to UK consumers its products as Greek! Why would
anyone wanting to buy authentic Greek yoghurt prefer to purchase
this product over one that uses exclusively Greek ingredients and
milk from animals that have grazed in Greece and not in the US?
This is all about not confusing or misleading the consumer and
describing Chobani yoghurt as "Greek yoghurt" would
certainly do that."
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