Vegan faux-mayo feels the heat from FDA

Turns out the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has quite strict terms on what one can call “mayonnaise.”

This month, the FDA sent a warning letter to Hampton Creek, the San Francisco based food company, to tell them to stop promoting  Just Mayo, their vegan substitute of the beloved condiment.

The letter, which you can read here, says that the company violates federal regulations, specifically:

• Using the term “mayo,” because it is the “shorthand or slang” term for mayonnaise and can be misleading to consumers.
• Claiming that the product is “heart healthy” when in fact Just Mayo and it’s sister product, Just Mayo Sriracha, both have too much fat in them to be good for your heart.
• Since the product doesn’t have eggs, it can’t call itself mayo. Neither Just Mayo or Just Mayo Sriracha have eggs in them.
• It also can’t call itself mayo because it has “modified food starch, pea protein, and beta-carotene,” which isn’t used in real mayonnaise.
• They critiqued the fact that the label, a cracked egg with a pea shoot growing out of it, is misleading to consumers who might think it’s “real” mayo.

Now, it’s up to Hampton Creek to convince the FDA otherwise or to change their branding and labeling.

If you want to pick up a container of your own Just Mayo, you can buy it at Sonoma Market (500 W. Napa St, #500, Sonoma). Or if you’re like me, and not vegan and you love your “real” FDA standard mayo, it’s even easier to make on your own.