Ingredients list alone does not cure

Must a tea labelled "Felix' Raspberry-Vanilla Adventure" actually contain ingredients or aromas of raspberry or vanilla? Or is misleading excluded if the ingredients list shows that no such ingredients are present? This question was subsequently referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (EuGH) by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), after the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Düsseldorf had initially seen no misleading.

In the case at issue, the dispute concerned a tea by the company Teekanne, on whose packaging, in addition to its designation as "Raspberry-Vanilla Adventure", there were, amongst other things, depictions of raspberries and vanilla flowers, the statements "Fruit tea with natural aromas" and "Fruit tea mixture with natural aromas – raspberry-vanilla flavour" as well as a graphic seal bearing the statement "only natural ingredients".

In the list of ingredients on one side of the packaging, however, it was stated: "Hibiscus, apple, sweet blackberry leaves, orange peel, rosehips, natural aroma with vanilla flavour, lemon peel, natural aroma with raspberry flavour, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, elderberries".

It was undisputed that the tea contained neither ingredients of raspberry or vanilla nor aromas thereof.

The decision of the court

The Court of Justice of the European Union (EuGH) (Judgment of 04.06.2015, Az. C- 195/14) held that an accurate ingredients list alone does not always suffice to exclude misleading concerning the ingredients of foodstuffs.

It was held (and continues to hold) in accordance with the established case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (EuGH) that consumers who base their purchasing decisions on the composition of the product should first read the ingredients list, the information concerning which is required under EU law. However, according to the court's view, the mere fact that a (correct) ingredients list is present cannot exclude that the labelling of the product and its overall presentation is misleading.

For labelling comprises (not only the ingredients list but) all the information, markings, manufacturers' or trade marks, depictions or signs which relate to a foodstuff and which are affixed to its packaging.

If any of these elements are untrue, false, ambiguous, contradictory or incomprehensible, in certain cases even a correct ingredients list may not be sufficient to correct a false or misleading impression of the consumer which results from the other elements of the labelling.

The Court of Justice of the European Union (EuGH) therefore referred the matter back to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), which must now examine the various components of the labelling of the fruit tea as a whole to determine whether a normally informed, reasonably attentive and critical consumer could be misled regarding the presence of raspberry and vanilla flower ingredients or aromas derived from these ingredients.

Conclusion

With regard to statements concerning the ingredients of foodstuffs, what matters is the overall impression created by the labelling of a foodstuff and its overall presentation. According to the judgment, an accurate ingredients list can, but does not necessarily have to be sufficient to exclude such a misleading overall impression.