Coca-Cola Under Fire: Disparity in Treatment of Plastic and Glass Bottle Consumers
The Court of Appeal has upheld a five-year-old ruling requiring Coca-Cola to label its glass bottles with nutritional information and customer service information.
The three-judge panel of the appellate court determined that the beverage manufacturer failed to persuade them that it is not obligated to provide consumers with nutritional information, storage, and contact information, as the High Court ruled in 2018.
Mr. Mark Ndumia Ndung’u filed the lawsuit, contending that the missing nutritional information was essential for consumers to understand the benefits of consuming the beverages.
Mr. Ndungru, who stopped drinking soda four years before filing the lawsuit, also asserted that the e-mail address and phone number were necessary for consumers to provide feedback, make inquiries and lodge complaints, and obtain the maximum benefit from the aforementioned products.
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Nairobi Bottlers Ltd and Coca-Cola Central, East, and West Africa appealed the decision, claiming that the beverage brands in Kenya complied with the Food, Drugs, and Chemical Substances Act’s labeling requirements.
Justices Hannah Okwengu, Dr. Imaana Laibuta, and John Mativo ruled, “On the contrary, we find and hold that the first respondent (Mr. Ndung’u) demonstrated to the required standard that the omission violated Article 46 and the Consumer Protection Act.”
In addition, the justices concurred with Mr. Ndung’u that the differential treatment of consumers of Coca-Cola products packaged in plastic versus glass bottles is unjustified.
The judges stated, “We say this because it means that if a consumer has low purchasing power and can only afford the Coca-Cola product packaged in glass bottles, he is not entitled to the information provided in the other similar product, but in a different package.”
Coca-Cola Under Fire: Disparity in Treatment of Plastic and Glass Bottle Consumers
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