The Kyiv Economic Court found Khladoprom Ice Cream Factory LLC guilty of distribution of untruthful information about the composition of its product and fined it UAH 1.37 million. The court rejected its claim to cancel the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee (AMCU) that the company violated the legislative requirements for product labeling.
As reported on AMCU’s website on Monday, while considering case #470-r dated December 30, 2022, the AMCU discovered that FM Khladoprom LLC, which produces more than 27 kinds of ice cream, in particular under the names Khreshchatyk, Kashtan, Khladik, Artek, Voloshkovoye Pole and others, had included information on the content of cow’s milk in its ice cream packaging.
The regulator found that in September and November 2020, the company did not purchase cow’s milk and therefore did not use it in making the ice cream “plombier,” but replaced it with skim milk powder.
“Drinking cow’s milk and powdered milk are not identical components, because these raw materials are produced under different technical conditions. Accordingly, the information distributed by the manufacturer on the composition of his product is false, whereas, according to the legislation, the labeling of all products should indicate only the ingredients that were actually used in their manufacture”, reminded the AMCU.
He pointed out that the placement of information on the packaging of ice cream that it contained drinking cow’s milk, which was not used by the company during the production in September and November 2020, was misleading for consumers.
Khladoprom Ice Cream Factory LLC tried to appeal against the regulator’s decision in court, but on 22 June 2023 the Kyiv Court of Justice dismissed the claim and upheld the AMCU’s decision, finding the company in breach of unfair competition legislation and imposing a UAH 1.37 million fine.
