Danone Deutschland (Haar / Germany; www.danone.de) has ended its legal dispute with German environmental organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH, Berlin; www.duh.de) over the advertisement campaign for “Activia” yogurt tubs – see Plasteurope.com of 01.08.2011. As part of a compromise solution, the food group has agreed to drop the label “new, environmentally-friendly tub” from the container. DUH had complained that the new PLA tub is no more environmentally friendly than its polystyrene predecessor, in particular since it cannot be recycled and because it is manufactured in part from genetically modified corn – an allegation Danone has dismissed.

In the coming days, Danone plans to launch a new container with a different slogan. Under the agreement, DUH allowed the food group one week to delete the controversial advertisement from its websites. In addition, Danone has until 27 December 2011 to remove from supermarket shelves the “Activia” tubs featuring the old slogan.

The agreement notwithstanding, the two legal parties are still engaged in some verbal sparring, with Danone announcing that the compromise had settled an “entirely uncalled-for public discussion and judicial altercation.” By contrast, Jürgen Resch, the head of DUH, said the agreement testified to Danone’s guilt, calling the settlement “a great success, since Danone is in effect admitting to having systematically misinformed its customers about the alleged environmental benefits of the Activia container.” Danone has rejected the claim that it misinformed the public, adding that it will continue selling its “Activia” yogurt in containers made of PLA. In response, DUH has called on a number of German supermarket chains to look into ongoing sales of products packaged in PLA containers.