Another company got involved in the conflict with the SFVS: fairy tale motifs are used in the description of the trip

Product descriptions do not match

Jurgita Petrulionė, Marketing Manager for the Marmaluzi brand, points out that the main problem is the description of the product by email. in the store, because here baby purees and other products are visually described with fairy-tale motifs.

“When creating our products, we wanted to present them in our online store a little better. The stories we created stalled because in those stories “the beet planets were flying, the gooseberry radiated C energy, the beet had iron strength, carrots – keratin, chia seeds – dietary fiber, which promoted planetary cleansing”, etc.

Depending on the service, we are violating the directives, which state that such terms cannot be used, they are not included in the allowed list when describing a product. All the necessary information on the product label is provided, approved and verified by SFVS itself, you have no objection to this. However, there are criticisms of how we provide this information on the website, ”says J. Petrulionė.

According to her, it all started last summer, when the SFVS started writing letters telling her to change the description, etc. The interlocutor assures that the company sent answers supporting the descriptions, but the service evaluates them casually.

“We sent evidence, but it is underestimated, we received the response that we violate the Advertising Law, that additional information about our products is misleading for the consumer, indicates the treatment of diseases, prevention, etc.”, says a representative of Marmaluzi. .

Stopped trading juice

Recently, on January 19, the company received an ordinary letter announcing an inspection at one of the points of sale, the marketing of the juice was stopped. SFVS companies request proof that the juice is organic.

“We declare that the juice is a natural product, we do not make it with water or anything, we have a natural product of nature and we prepare it for consumption. Let’s not say that it is a natural product.

The inscription “100%. natural juice ‘, but e. stuck in the store. We have all the certificates that prove the organic product, they also have them. The official Ekoagro pages show that we both collect and process organic juice.

All those certificates that the service has, and an excessive request for documentation complicate our work a lot, and we do not understand why this happens. We imagine that a state institution should help, promote and advise the Lithuanian small business, and in this place it only accused, punished and tried to cope, ”says J. Petrulionė.

According to the interlocutor, the certificates certifying the ecological nature of the juice have been presented to the SFVS on several occasions, but the inspectors are allegedly ignoring them.

Inspectors are hampered by collaboration with doctors

Also, the service is hampered by the fact that Marmaluzi’s website mentions cooperation with doctors and writes about small-scale production on its website.

“Our recipes are approved by doctors, they evaluate if the products correspond to the baby’s age, are suitable for the baby’s nutrition or balanced in terms of nutrition, ingredients, consistency and all the parameters. Our products are scientifically proven to be suitable for baby nutrition.

At that time, SFVS does not allow us to write this in our email. in the store because we use the position of the doctors to encourage buying. According to them, when we work with doctors, we have to hide it from our clients ”, says the interviewee.

J. Petrulionė says the company has already changed most of its product descriptions, but SFVS continues to send letters.

“We have changed the descriptions that we agreed on and did not agree to so as not to irritate or pull the whip behind the mustache. We remove physician reviews for each product. They were given the opinion that it is balanced, designed for the baby, relaxes the intestines, etc. We took it out, but all the research is being done for what was written, “he says.

SFVS: Marmaluzi has been repeatedly found to have food safety violations

In response to the criticism, the SFVS stated that Marmaluzi had been repeatedly found to have violated not only food labeling but also food safety during its six years of operation.
“Although the Marmaluzi producers position themselves as a small company that exclusively produces Lithuanian products, SFVS points out that a significant part of the raw material is imported by the producer from third countries, such as Belarus. In the six years of operation, not only they have identified food labels or advertising, but also food safety violations, such as acrylamides in marmaluzi mashed potatoes with pieces of fish and nitrates in zucchini puree, ”writes SFVS.

According to the Office, “the inspection revealed irregularities in the claims and the advertising used in the names of 60 different products or in their presentation.”

“As early as 2020, the SFVS found that the company’s food descriptions used prohibited statements referring to human disease and prophylactic properties, such as:” (i) absorption through the use of goat milk and goat milk products is guaranteed and guaranteed “;” One of the preventive measures against constipation in babies / young children “.
In addition, the company’s food descriptions use strictly limited nutritional and health claims, such as “juice is an excellent source of energy, rich in iron, which stimulates the body’s production of hemoglobin, potassium, vitamin B6”, as well as nutrition as “rich in vitamins, antioxidants and minerals that stimulate digestion,” reports SFVS.

According to SFVS, the company did not take into account all the comments that were presented to it, that is, the nutritional and health claims continued to be used in violation of the legal conditions for their use. The Authority also noted that the company was informed and consulted on the requirements for supplying food information. Therefore, SFVS felt that it should have had sufficient information on the rules and procedures for the use of specific claims on food labels.

SFVS is of the opinion that in this case the company’s complaints about excessive bureaucracy are unfounded, since it was given a sufficiently long period (around half a year) to remedy the deficiencies and no administrative sanctions were imposed on the company pending concrete corrective actions. .

Armonaitė: The conflict between baby food producers and SFVS is tragicomic

In response to SFVS comments to baby food producers Marmaluzi about misleading and inaccurate product descriptions based on fairy tales, Minister of Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė states that a more proportionate and prudent application of the regulations of SFM to prevent similar “tragic” situations in the future.

“The situation (…) may be very comical, but it is tragicomic. Because, again, we are wasting SFVS staff time and wasting resources on such minor situations. It seems to me that we need a systemic approach, and that is what the Ministry of Economy and Innovation is doing, better regulation and better regulatory reform ”, he said.

A. Armonaitė noted that SFVS regulation should be applied more intelligently.

“We want to take the initiative so that regulators, firstly, provide preventive advice, secondly, proportionate and prudent application of regulation, and not stifle people’s initiatives, which, for example, are creative descriptions of products. that seem misleading. ” I think there should be more imagination and reasonableness in the proportionality criteria to guide inspectors.