The Paris Commercial Court condemned the nutritional application Yuka for "
unfair and deceptive commercial practice
" and for "
acts of denigration to the detriment
" of the Federation of French Companies of Charcuterie Traiteur (FICT), in a decision consulted on Friday by AFP.
Read also: Yuka sentenced to pay 3,000 euros for denigrating canned food
On this very popular application, each consumer who has "
scanned
" the barcode of a sausage or a ham is immediately invited to sign a petition asking for the removal of nitrites and nitrates from food.
It was the establishment of a direct link between nutritional information and an activist approach that appeared unbearable to the FICT, leading it to take legal action.
In its decision, the commercial court “
forbids Yuka to make a direct link between, on the one hand, the 'Ban on nitrites' petition or any call to ban the addition of nitrites or nitrates in delicatessen products, on the other hand, the Yuka application sheets relating to charcuterie products
”.
Read also: A petition calls for an end to nitrites in the diet
Yuka will appeal
Yuka expressed "
her misunderstanding
" after the court ruling on
Friday
and decided to appeal.
The application "
has full confidence in the Paris Court of Appeal before which the debate for health and consumer information will continue,
" she wrote in a press release.
With the consumer association Foodwatch and the League against cancer, Yuka is participating in a campaign calling for the withdrawal from deli meats of potassium nitrites E249, sodium E250, and sodium nitrates E251 and potassium E252, suspected of being carcinogens.
The petition collected 350,000 signatures, says Yuka.
The federation of butchers satisfied
In January, the FICT had taken legal action, considering that the allegations relating to these additives nitrites via Yuka “
unfairly damaged the image and the reputation of the profession as well as the meat and cured products
”. "
We are satisfied with this court decision
," said Bernard Vallat, president of the FICT, which brings together 310 companies. “
How can you accuse people who obey the law and the regulations of being poisoners?
", He said, recalling that nitrites and nitrates allow" to
avoid microbial proliferation
".
For her part, Julie Chapon, co-founder of Yuka, argued that the FICT had been "
unsuccessful in several requests, including the most important one aimed at modifying the app's rating system and in particular the nitrite rating.
".
