According
to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Hampton Creek's Just Mayo
isn't actually mayonnaise because it doesn't have eggs in it.
The FDA sent a letter to the manufacturer of the vegan spread this month stating that their product name and label may be misleading.
The FDA sent a letter to the manufacturer of the vegan spread this month stating that their product name and label may be misleading.
According to a report by NBC News, the company had explained about their brand name before.
"We don't call our product just mayonnaise, we call it 'Just Mayo;' that's for a reason," Tetrick said on CNBC's "Closing Bell" last November.
However, the FDA, in its letter to the company, addressed that their
product name uses the slang that could be misconstrued as actually
healthier than it is.
"The term 'mayo' has long been used and understood as shorthand or slang for mayonnaise," the letter by FDA letter said.
In addition, Hampton Creek also claims that Just Mayo is also
cholesterol-free, which implies that their vegan spread is good for the
heart. The company's usage of the term "cholesterol-free" is "an
unauthorized synonym" since the product contains too much fat.
"According to the standard of identity for mayonnaise, egg is a
required ingredient," wrote the FDA on the letter dated Aug. 12 and
signed by FDA director William A. Cornell, Jr., according to the report
by Time.
"[H]owever, based on the ingredient information on the labels, these
products do not contain eggs. We also note that these products contain
additional ingredients that are not permitted by the standard, such as
modified food starch, pea protein, and beta-carotene, which may be used
to impart color simulating egg yolk. Therefore, these products do not
conform to the standard for mayonnaise."
The company is given 15 working days to respond to the letter and must include action steps to settle with.
Hampton Creek CEO Josh Tetrick said the company will not be changing its name after talking with the FDA last Tuesday, Yahoo! News reports.
"We feel good about where we are from a regulatory perspective, from a legal perspective," Tetrick explained.
The company behind Hellmann's mayonnaise and Best Foods mayonnaise,
Unilever, filed a lawsuit against Hampton Creek last December for false
advertising and fraud. According to The Guardian,
the charges were later dropped less than a month later saying that the
company believes Hampton Creek will make the necessary measures to
address their labeling issues.