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End of reasonable customer standard in Poland in relation to agricultural and food products?

The Polish Act on Market Quality of Agricultural and Food products states that the labeling of food products should not result in consumer confusion, especially as to the characteristics of the product, including, inter alia, its ingredients, source or place of origin. 

Undoubtedly, the likelihood of consumer confusion should be assessed bearing in mind current European standards of a “reasonable customer” that is reasonably well-informed and reasonably observant and circumspect. However, in fact the situation is not crystal clear in this matter.

„Wódka Alpejska” – one of the prohibited products, as it does not originate from the Alps

Inspectors of The Polish Agricultural and Food Product Quality Inspection (IJHARS) issued recently several decisions in view of which according to the inspection, Polish consumers still seem not to comply with the abovementioned standards. This year IJHARS has contested sale of old Polish vodka “Wódka Alpejska” (“Alps’ Vodka”), claiming that the name may confuse consumers as to the origin of the alcohol (the mentioned vodka brand originates from Siedlce, a town in Poland, not from the Alps) . The decision was issued despite the fact that there was a clear indication on the bottle as to the origin of the alcohol (“Produce of Poland” and the manufacturer’s assertions that this is only a brand name). Currently “Wódka Alpejska” is out of the market in Mazovian region (the decision was taken by a regional part of IJHARS, competent for Mazovian region only).

A similar decision was taken as to the improper labeling of eggs. The package contained an image of a walking hen, which – in the eyes of the inspection –was misdescriptive suggesting  that the eggs were free range (despite the proper information contained on the package and eggs’ themselves). 

It seems, however, that at some point The Polish Agricultural and Food Product Quality Inspection’s vigilance is understandable as inventiveness of Polish producers knows no limits. One of the stories of the inspectors tells that one of the manufacturers of hare pate had to change the name of the product after the inspection had found out that the pate contained only around 5% of hare meat. The manufacturer found a food engineer whose name was Hare (Polish “Zając”) and changed the name of the product “Hare pate” to “Hare’s Pate”, as the product was  allegedly an original recipe of the mentioned Mr Zając. Therefore, we understand that anticipating the approach of the inspection demands high level of vigilance. Even if the consumer standard applied by IJHARS seems not to correspond to the current consumer-awareness, still their decisions are immediately enforceable by force of the law.

Author: Rafal Kloczko

For any questions on this article contact Michal Siciarek or Rafal Kloczko

Author: admin