Final decision German Court in Teekanne: Teekannicht!

The most important decision in the area of food law in 2015 is without doubt Teekanne. A German consumer organisation found it misleading that tea packaging depicted raspberries and vanilla blossoms with the logo “nur natürliche Zutaten” (only natural ingredients); naturally the consumer would expect the tea to consist of raspberries and vanilla aromas. These aromas were natural, but were not made of real raspberries or vanilla. Teekanne deals with the definition of the term ‘misleading’ and the relationship between the declaration of the ingredients and the rest of the packaging. Although it was widely assumed that the correct indication of the ingredients could take away potential misleading, since Teekanne the assessment must regard the whole packaging. Hence, specific ingredients are not decisive. The total display of various aspects is decisive. In the meantime, the German Bundesgerichthof has finally decided the case in line with Teekanne: the presentation of the products is indeed misleading, as the average consumer will expect real raspberry and vanilla, but does not receive them.

Bram Duivenvoorde