New legal setback for Yuka.
Become essential in the supermarket, the nutritional application was condemned Monday by the commercial court of Aix-en-Provence for "unfair commercial practices" and "misleading" as well as for "acts of denigration" against the manufacturer ABC Industrie charcuterie.
At the end of May, the Paris Commercial Court rendered a similar decision in favor of the Federation of Industrial Butchers and Caterers (FICT), of which ABC Industrie is a member.
VIDEO.
Ham, sausage and nitrites: why butchers attack the Yuka application
Based in Peyrolles-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), the company in question, of which a range of cooked hams enjoys a poor classification by Yuka given their nitrite content, among others, accused the application of having "caused him significant financial and moral damages, in addition to serious damage to his reputation", according to the judgment.
ABC Industrie accused Yuka of disseminating false information on the dangers of nitrites for the health of consumers.
"This company mainly sells products by the cut, these are products that you do not notice in Yuka", responded Julie Chapon, the co-founder of Yuka, who decided to appeal.
“We were sentenced for moral and reputational damage” but “Yuka's rating system was not questioned”, which “was their main request”.
No more "bad" or "carcinogenic" words
In its decision, the Aix-en-Provence commercial court ordered Yuka to pay ABC Industrie 25,000 euros in damages, against 714,000 requested by the company.
However, the application must remove the qualifiers "bad" and "mediocre" attached to the products concerned as well as the "high risk" assessment attributed to the additive E250 (nitrite) or even statements specifying that nitrites are "carcinogenic" or "Genotoxic".
Read alsoConsumption: Yuka, the app that scares supermarkets
"We are rather satisfied" with the fact that the court recognizes that "the information delivered by Yuka must be fair and scientifically proven", welcomed Fabien Castanier, the general delegate of the FICT which brings together 300 companies, mostly SMEs.
At the end of May, the Paris Commercial Court had banned Yuka "from making a direct link" between a petition aiming to prohibit the addition of nitrites or nitrates in delicatessen products and the application sheets relating to these. last.
Yuka also appealed against this decision.
With the association of consumers Foodwatch and the League against cancer, Yuka participates in a campaign calling for the withdrawal of nitrites in cold meats.
