

Big Mayo Files Lawsuit Against Food-Tech Startup Hampton Creek - Reallynow
http://www.eatdrinkpolitics.com/2014/11/09/big-mayo-files-frivolous-lawsuit-against-eggless-competitor/

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whafro
Mayonnaise is oil, egg yolks, and an acid (typically vinegar or lemon juice).
If you don't have these things, it's not mayonnaise.

It seems like it'd be pretty easy for them to call it "Vegan Mayo," where
folks are assuming there's a major substitute for a core ingredient. "Just
Mayo," on the other hand, seems to claim the opposite.

It's still pretty whiny for Hellmann's/Best Foods/Unilever/Whomever to file
the lawsuit, but that doesn't mean they're wrong.

~~~
entee
Neither are a lot of Hellmann’s products. Lots of their products are called
"mayonnaise dressing" instead of "mayonnaise" probably because they don’t fit
the criteria either. Do you care though? You probably never noticed, and just
had a really nice sandwich.

The standard is actually super specific:

[http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRS...](http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?CFRPart=169&showFR=1&subpartNode=21:2.0.1.1.41.2)

for example you have to have at least 65% by weight oil and at least 2.5%
acid.

If I buy something that has "mayonnaise" on it, then I’m buying "mayonnaise".
If my sandwich sucks, then I won’t buy it again. No need for the government to
tell me what is and isn’t mayonnaise.

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ginko
If I buy something that has mayonnaise on it then I'm expecting _mayonnaise_.

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entee
Fair enough, but if you buy a lot of the mayo products in the condiments
aisle, the FDA doesn't think you're getting it. Check it out next time you're
in the supermarket, lots of things are dressing and not mayonnaise, but I'll
bet you never noticed or cared. I live with someone who's vegan so I've been
paying a lot of attention to labels lately.

I feel like this is sort of the Turing test of food, given two jars, one FDA-
approved and the other not. If you can't tell one from the other, aren't they
both mayo?

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delinka
In the extreme case, the answer is "no" \- just because the flavor and texture
are 'correct' doesn't mean the product is even safe. Back off from the extreme
case of unsafe ingredients, and you're still not necessarily getting what was
advertised. I think the question becomes "at what point should a particular
formulation of a food product does it cease to be the original and start being
something different."

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rayiner
So it's called "Just Mayo," mayonnaise being a food product that contains eggs
by definition, and has a picture of an egg on its label. But it isn't
mayonnaise and doesn't contain eggs. Maybe the hipster irony is just lost on
me.

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yebyen
It's a picture of an egg with a plant growing inside of it. I don't really
know how much clearer the iconography could actually be. It's mayo, but with
some plant product instead of chicken eggs. Were you really deceived, or are
you playing devil's advocate? (Edit: parent edited his post, it no longer says
"deceptive marketing at its best.")

I agree that "mayo" is generally considered to be synonymous with "mayonnaise"
and that mayonnaise has a precise definition in the law, but neither of these
are a trademark. The law doesn't define "mayo." It defines mayonnaise.

It's not clear to me if the standards of "confusingly similar" still apply in
cases outside of trademark. I know this is a standard in trademark. It's not
like they're marketing a non-dairy "malk", which is obviously OK.

Maybe they should change the product name to "Nellman's" and they would be
better off. I went looking for any brand of Mayonnaise that markets itself as
just "Mayo" and didn't find one.

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bryanlarsen
To me, that logo looks like a perfect logo for real mayonnaise: it contains
the two main ingredients: an egg + a plant representing the oil.

~~~
waterlesscloud
That label is definitely misleading, and probably intentionally so.

Seriously, it features an egg, which it doesn't have.

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kstenerud
I doubt it was intentionally so. Everything seems painfully obvious in
hindsight.

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debacle
Upvoted for "big mayo" reference, but this is a pretty obvious case of severe
editorial slant.

> Now it’s true that FDA’s "standard of identity" (i.e., definition) for
> mayonnaise includes eggs; well specifically, "egg yolk-containing
> ingredients"

Okay. Case closed. It's not Mayo.

~~~
entee
I think the point is not whether it fits the current standard but whether
those standards make sense in an age of innovation.

I think consumers are smart enough to figure out whether or not the product
they bought is mayonnaise. If it tastes like mayo, works like mayonnaise,
smells like mayonnaise, is it not mayonnaise? Who cares if it has eggs, and
why are the Feds getting involved anyway?

~~~
dragonwriter
> I think the point is not whether it fits the current standard but whether
> those standards make sense in an age of innovation.

How does an "age of innovation" benefit from inaccurate product labeling. Its
not like mayonnaise-substitutes that vary from the defining ingredients are
new -- usually with branding that is _evocative_ of mayonnaise without
claiming to _be_ mayonnaise, clearly indicating that it is: (1) something
different than mayonnaise, (2) intended to fill the role of mayonnaise.

> Who cares if it has eggs, and why are the Feds getting involved anyway?

The Feds are concerned about accurate and meaningful food labeling because
people being able to rely on food labels and no what they mean is important
for both health and safety reasons, and for the ability of consumers to make
informed decisions in the marketplace.

Misleading labeling benefits only fraudsters.

~~~
undersuit
Just Mayo

>INGREDIENTS: Non-GMO Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Filtered Water, Lemon
Juice, White Vinegar, 2% or less of the following: Organic Sugar, Salt, Pea
Protein, Spices, Modified Food Starch, Beta-Carotene.*

Hellman's Mayonnaise

>SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, WHOLE EGGS AND EGG YOLKS, VINEGAR, SALT, SUGAR, LEMON
JUICE, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA (USED TO PROTECT QUALITY), NATURAL FLAVORS.
GLUTEN-FREE.

I don't see any misleading labeling here.

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bryanlarsen
Miracle Whip manages to sell in huge quantities without calling themselves
"Mayo". If Miracle Whip can do it, so can Hampton Creek.

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Turing_Machine
Exactly.

I noted above that Kraft also makes a real mayonnaise, which they call "Kraft
Mayo".

I'm surprised they're not right in there with Unilever complaining about this.

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smackfu
I think the biggest weakness in the complaint is that they have to argue that
the shorthand "mayo" is the same as the protected term "mayonnaise," and is
controlled by the same rules. The fact that they use dictionary definitions to
make that case, rather than federal code, is rather telling.

Consider that "chocolaty" is considered a valid workaround for "chocolate",
but the dictionary for "chocolaty" says "made of or like chocolate."

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verulito
Shelf stable mayo is disgusting. Make it at home and compare. None of these
companies should be able to call their product mayo. Sure they meet the
technical definition of mayo, having at least the ingredients that whafro
lists, but they also contain a bunch of other crap that significantly alters
the texture and flavor. Just Mayo does seem to be even further from real mayo
than most of the competition.

I don't see what the big hubub is about. Hellman can pursue all three
strategies to win at the same time. Innovate, market, AND sue! Not to defend
the system but it's the one we have and I don't blame them for taking
advantage of it.

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calbear81
How about "I can't believe it's not mayo"?

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mayneack
I'm getting a 500 Internal Service Error

[https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http:/...](https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.eatdrinkpolitics.com/2014/11/09/big-
mayo-files-frivolous-lawsuit-against-eggless-competitor/)

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undersuit
The Pot calling the kettle black.

Traditional Mayonnaise used olive oil, most companies use soybean oil now for
it's preservative properties and low price. I can't buy a 100% olive oil mayo,
but Hellman's gets to cry about eggs?

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robgibbons
Rename it to Almost Mayo, and they've got no problems!

