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Edeka market (archive image)
Photo: Patrick Seeger / dpa
The consumer organization Foodwatch has sued the supermarket chain Edeka at the Karlsruhe district court for “misleading” through a seal for sustainable palm oil.
Foodwatch said that “people and the environment are obviously being exploited” for palm oil, which is advertised as fair.
After a warning without consequences, Foodwatch filed a lawsuit for violating the ban on misleading information.
According to the information, this involves, among other things, a margarine and a vegetable fat from the house brand Gut & Günstig, which Edeka advertises with the label from the Round Table for Sustainable Palmoil (RSPO).
However, according to Foodwatch, mining in Guatemala “systematically leads to human rights violations and environmental pollution.”
Accordingly, there were repeated excessive work orders on the plantations and inadequate wages were paid.
The seal has “no place on the affected products,” complained Foodwatch.
Research by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and Foodwatch showed that palm oil production takes place on plantations that the indigenous population claims as their land.
Demonstrations by local people for their land rights were violently suppressed by security forces;
The use of pesticides leads to pollution of drinking water.
As early as January, Foodwatch and ECCHR jointly filed a complaint under the German Supply Chain Act.
This obliges companies of a certain size to ensure compliance with human rights and occupational safety standards throughout their entire supply chain.
Together with those affected locally, the organizations demanded that no palm oil from the plantations be used in Edeka products until the situation on site has improved.
Edeka takes the “current allegations of possible violations on palm oil plantations very seriously,” the company said when asked by AFP.
The statements are being examined in accordance with the requirements of the Supply Chain Act "in order to clarify the facts," it continues.
The company also distances itself “from any labor and human rights violations” and welcomes “the fact that any grievances are brought to our attention in order to investigate them comprehensively.”
The measures initiated included risk analyzes of direct and indirect suppliers.
The RSPO seal also commented on the allegations.
The processes are currently being reviewed and the company is working to fully clarify the situation.
According to its own information, Foodwatch did not file a lawsuit against the Edeka headquarters in Hamburg for legal reasons, but rather against an individual supermarket.
ssu/AFP