Hello and welcome to the details of ‘Got milk’ for vegans? Sorry, Danone, Swiss court rules only dairy counts and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - French F&B giant Danone lost a legal challenge in Switzerland to label ‘milk’ on its plant-based alternatives after the court ruled that presentation and labelling of foodstuffs must not mislead the consumer, particularly with regard to the production, composition, and nature of the product in question. — Unsplash pic
GENEVA, March 29 — Switzerland’s top court ruled Friday that plant-based drinks may not use the word “milk” in their marketing, rejecting an appeal from French dairy giant Danone.
In a decision that echoed a similar ruling in Britain last month, Switzerland’s Federal Court said it had dismissed an appeal from Danone and determined that “the designation ‘milk’ cannot be used for vegan products”.
The popularity of meat and dairy alternatives has surged in recent years, but the use of traditional terms like “milk” for plant-based products has been strongly contested by the agricultural sector.
The Swiss case centred on an oat drink sold under Danone’s Alpro brand in Switzerland, with packaging reading “Shhh... this is not milk”, with the “I” replaced by a white droplet.
In 2022, the Zurich Cantonal Laboratory banned the oat-based beverage from the market, saying that it violated the provisions of the Swiss law on foodstuffs.
The lab’s decision was upheld by the Zurich Cantonal Court, and Danone Switzerland then appealed to the Federal Court.
In a statement detailing Friday’s ruling, which brought four years of proceedings to a close, Switzerland’s highest court pointed to a 2025 legal precedent regarding the designation of “vegan” food products.
Based on that precedent, it said, “in this concrete case, the designation ‘milk’ cannot be used for a vegan product”.
“In principal, the same applies if the specific term ‘milk’ is used in a negative statement,” it said, “or if it is modified typographically”, as in this case.
According to the Switzerland’s Foodstuffs Act, the presentation and labelling of foodstuffs must not mislead the consumer, particularly with regard to the production, composition, and nature of the product in question. — AFP
These were the details of the news ‘Got milk’ for vegans? Sorry, Danone, Swiss court rules only dairy counts for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
