Hampton Creek's Just Mayo Does Count As Mayonnaise, FDA Decides

Just Mayo, the popular vegan mayonnaise product from Hampton Creek, will be permitted to be labeled as mayonnaise after all, following months of back-and-forth between Hampton Creek and the FDA.

In August, the United States Department of Agriculture sent a warning letter to the company, accusing Hampton Creek of misleading consumers with the name "Just Mayo."

"Your Just Mayo and Just Mayo Sriracha products are misbranded... in that they purport to be the standardized food mayonnaise due to the misleading name and imagery used on the label, but do not qualify as the standardized food mayonnaise," the FDA wrote to Hampton Creek founder Josh Tetrick. "The name 'Just Mayo' and an image of an egg are prominently featured on the labels for these products. The term 'mayo' has long been used and understood as shorthand or slang for mayonnaise. The use of the term 'mayo' in the product names and the image of an egg may be misleading to consumers because it may lead them to believe that the products are the standardized food, mayonnaise, which must contain eggs."

Now, as part of a deal with the FDA to keep its brand name, Hampton Creek will redesign the Just Mayo label by to make it clear that the product does not contain eggs , and to "emphasize the word 'just'—not as in 'only' but as in 'guided by reason, justice, and fairness,'" according to Quartz.