The Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Munich has banned the baby food manufacturer Hipp from misleading advertising. The ruling upheld a lawsuit filed by the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) and did not allow an appeal. The family-run company had advertised its children’s milk with the statement “That’s why your child needs 7x more vitamin D than an adult.”
It was only in a footnote in the small print on the packaging that it was clarified that this only refers to the requirement per kilogram of body weight. In the online advertisement, the clarification was hidden behind a button that you could click on.
According to the judges’ ruling, however, this is not enough to clarify the matter. According to a fundamental decision by the Federal Court of Justice, the overall impression of the advertising is decisive. The fact that a child needs seven times as much vitamin D as an adult and that the milk advertised covers this supposed additional requirement is wrong. The Munich Regional Court upheld the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations’ lawsuit in 2020.
The Higher Regional Court had rejected the appeal in a first trial in 2021 and ruled in favor of Hipp. But the Federal Court of Justice overturned the ruling and referred the case back to the Higher Regional Court for a new hearing, which has now corrected its ruling and ordered Hipp to cease and desist. Hipp’s advertising violates the EU regulation, according to which nutritional information must not be false, ambiguous or misleading.
Hipp did not initially comment when asked. According to vzbv, the company has now adjusted the objectionable passages on the website. The association is currently checking whether the objectionable statement on the packaging has also been changed.