The Federal District Court suspended yesterday (31) the decision of the Procon that banned the sale of Del Valle Fresh drink in the federal capital for allegedly spreading false advertising.
Judge Arquibaldo Carneiro accepted an appeal from Coca-Cola, the company responsible for producing the product, to overturn the suspension determined in May.
The magistrate understood that the drink has been on the market for a long time and does not pose a serious risk to consumer health. “That way, there’s no need to impede sales for product labeling,” he argued.
“I do not see a substantial danger of inverse damage, since, as said, these are products that have been marketed for years, with no news of harmfulness to the health of consumers, so that, in this judgment of superficial prelibrium, it is reasonable to postpone the administrative act, at the same time least until, in these cases, there is a greater instruction, or the contradictory”, wrote the judge in the decision.
After an inspection operation, Procon suspended sales and stated that the labeling and commercial promotion of the drink suggest that the drink is fruit juice.
“The inspection by the agency found, after analyzing the information on the Del Valle website and checking on-site labels and advertisements in supermarkets, that Del Valle Fresh products do not have the minimum amount of fruit to be considered juice, nectar or even refreshment”, argued the consumer protection agency.
Coca-Cola stated that the drink was never classified as a juice.
“Coca-Cola informs that the illustration on the label of the Fresh line of the Del Valle brand reflects the raw material present in the drink. Due to its commitment to transparency with the consumer, it makes available on the respective label all the information regarding its composition, including the amount of juice present in the product, in strict compliance with current Brazilian legislation and regulatory standards of the competent bodies of the category. It also clarifies that the products of the Fresh line of the Del Valle brand are not and have never been classified as juice or nectar”.
