French border police have destroyed nearly 35,000 bottles of a soft drink called “Champagne”. Customs officials at the port of Le Havre said the bottles were shipped from Haiti and contained a “bright orange liquid”.
Prior to the confiscation for infringement of champagne ownership, the same product was the subject of an investigation by the French Competition Authority. It was recalled due to excessive amounts of benzoic acid, a common preservative used in food and beverages.
The issue arose following an outcry from the French Champagne Commission, which demanded that the batch be destroyed, arguing that the labeling constituted a violation of Champagne’s Protected Designation of Origin.
The influential inter-professional committee of vins de Champagne (CIVC) closely monitors champagne food fraud and those who try to usurp the title “champagne”, while, according to European rules, “goods that violate the protected designation of origin are counterfeit.”
Recall that CIVC was involved in a dispute with Russian wine producers, who were forced to indicate on the label that it was sparkling wine, not champagne.
According to the BBC
Source: Kathimerini
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