FDA says Just Mayo Spread doesn’t meet Mayonnaise standards – NYC Today

Hampton Creek, a tiny company that sells plant-based replacements for proteins derived from animals, has been told by the Food and Drug Administration that the company’s Just Mayo products have been violating federal regulations linked to standards for mayonnaise and proper labeling.

The agency, in a letter dated August 12, mentioned that the term ‘mayo’ in the brand name and the logo, a minimalist egg ‘cracked’ by a pea shoot, may have been misleading consumers by meaning that the products contain eggs in them.

In the letter, William A. Correll Jr., director of the F.D.A.’s office of compliance for food safety and applied nutrition, wrote the term ‘mayo’ has been used since long and taken as shorthand or slang for mayonnaise. Besides this the agency has also mentioned that Just Mayo and Just Mayo Sriracha have a lot of fat in it for the company to mean that they were healthy for heart.

As per the federal standards of identity for food, any product known as mayonnaise should contain eggs, which neither Just Mayo nor Just Mayo Sriracha does.

The letter added, “We also note that these products contain additional ingredients that are not permitted by the standard, such as modified food starch, pea protein and beta-carotene, which may be used to impart color simulating egg yolk.” The agency said thus these products don’t meet the standard requirements for mayonnaise.