Eggless Mayonnaise Firm Sued by Hellmann's Maker over Branding

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Eggless mayonnaise firm sued by Hellmann's maker over branding Just Mayo Unilever is suing the Just Mayo brand for "false advertising and unfair competition" Continue reading the main story Related Stories The frozen yoghurt firm with a cheeky name The silent brand killer Hillshire buys Pinnacle for $6.6bn When does mayonnaise stop being mayonnaise? When the condiment contains no eggs, argues food giant Unilever. The multinational firm, which manufactures Hellmann's and Best Foods mayonnaise, is suing a Californian business for selling a plant-based alternative called 'Just Mayo'. Unilever claims the name is misleading, and that Just Mayo, which is sold in major supermarkets, is eating into its mayonnaise sales. 'Horse and buggy' definition Hampton Creek, the company behind Just Mayo, has accused Unilever of using "horse and buggy era" definitions for identifying mayonnaise. The controversy surrounds Just Mayo's labelling, which features an egg with a pea-shoot running through it. Unilever claims this suggests the product - which is made with canola oil, lemon juice and pea protein - contains eggs. Hampton Creek's products are sold alongside egg-based mayonnaises at a wide range of US retailers, as well as Tesco in the UK, and the company has been growing rapidly, attracting funding from Bill Gates, Peter Thiel and other venture capital firms. What constitutes mayonnaise? The US Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the industry, considers mayonnaise to have some form of egg-yolk in its ingredients. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to France in the early 1800s, and defines the condiment as a "thick, creamy sauce consisting of egg yolks emulsified with oil and seasoned with salt, pepper, vinegar, and (usually) mustard". Just Mayo Just Mayo is explicitly marketed as mayonnaise, Unilever says

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