A vegan alternative to milk cannot mention the word milk, according to the Swiss Federal Court. In a public hearing on Friday, the judges rejected by four votes to one the appeal lodged by Danone, which was marketing a carton bearing the words "not milk". +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox Under Swiss law, milk is defined as "the product of the mammary secretion of an animal classified as a mammal". This name is protected and cannot be used to describe an alternative to milk. To illustrate this point, one judge said: "If you have to call a spade a spade, you have to call milk milk". + Dairy substitutes filling up Swiss shelves In addition, the name on the carton of an oat-based drink is misleading to consumers. In the present case, the packaging marketed by Danone Suisse bore the words 'SHHH.... THIS IS NOT MILK", with a white drop replacing the "i" in "MILK". In March 2022, the Zurich cantonal laboratory banned this oat-based beverage from the market ...
