UK Retailer Asda Wins Aspartame Court Battle with Ajinomoto

Ajinomoto accused Asda at the High Court in London of malicious falsehood and said it was trying to protect the reputation of its products.

17/07/09 UK retailer Asda has won its court battle with Ajinomoto which sued the supermarket for calling the artificial sweetener aspartame “nasty” in an own label product range sold under the brand name "Good for You" in 2007. Following a preliminary hearing held at the High Court in London on 6 July judgment was handed down by the court on 15 July 2009. The purpose of the preliminary hearing was to obtain a ruling on what the statements by ASDA mean in law, and therefore whether or not they are actionable. Ajinomoto said it will appeal the decision. “Ajinomoto firmly believes that the denigration of aspartame is not in the interest of consumers' health or good nutrition, and remains steadfast in its defence of this safe and beneficial ingredient,” the company responded by stating.

In publicity for its "Good for you" range, Asda promised: "No hidden nasties - no artificial colours or flavours, no aspartame and no hydrogenated fats".

Ajinomoto accused Asda at the High Court in London of malicious falsehood and said it was trying to protect the reputation of its products. But Mr Justice Tugendhat ruled that the words complained of - on food packaging and a cola drink - did not mean that aspartame was potentially harmful or unhealthy. He said the publicity was trying to convey the message "if you the customer think that aspartame may be bad for you, or unpleasant to taste or consume, then this product is for you".

Ajinomoto argues that despite agreeing with the company that a substantial number of consumers will understand describing aspartame as a "nasty" to mean that it is potentially bad for you, the judge also developed his own meaning of the terms, which he arrived at through a series of complex arguments. The judge then created a new rule which required that his second meaning was to be preferred. This means that Ajinomoto will need to lodge an appeal to pursue its case.

Ajinomoto said after the defeat that legal action is not a step that it has taken lightly. It is, however, important to defend the reputation of aspartame and of the many products that use the ingredient.

The company pointed out that aspartame is a safe and wholesome ingredient with a history of more than 25 years use in foods and drinks. Since its introduction in the United Kingdom in 1983, aspartame has enabled food and drink manufacturers to offer consumers low calorie products with an excellent taste. Made from two amino acids, parts of protein found in many everyday foods, such as meat, fish, cheese, fruit and cereals, aspartame brings nothing new to the diet and is digested naturally by the body.

With rising rates of obesity, governments and leading healthcare providers are encouraging us all to reduce the number of calories that we consume. Aspartame is well placed to help because it has a clean sugar-like taste that people genuinely enjoy, without the calories of sugar, and it has been shown scientifically to help control weight.

“Furthermore, aspartame is the best tasting of all the low calorie sweeteners. In documents laid before the court, ASDA stated that "consumers generally prefer the sweetening flavour of aspartame to that of sucralose," Ajinomoto wrote.

Asda welcomed the judge’s ruling as “a victory for common sense” and renewed its call for other manufacturers and retailers to follow its lead by committing to the removal of unnecessary, artificial additives from food and soft drink products.

The supermarket publicised a ‘No Hidden Nasties’ guarantee in 2007, promising customers there were no artificial colours or flavours, no aspartame and no hydrogenated vegetable oils in any of its 9,000 own label food and soft drinks products. The supermarket invested £30 million in the move and the ruling means the supermarket can, and will, continue to highlight this promise to customers on its packaging, it said.