The USDA’s national supervisor of shell eggs later advised the AEB to reach out to the FDA about Just Mayo’s labeling. More than one AEB official jokingly threatened Josh Tetrick, Hampton Creek’s founder. AEB projects included paying bloggers to write about the health benefits of eggs and plotting (unsuccessfully) to keep Hampton Creek products off of Whole Foods shelves.
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Even lighthearted provocations appeared to trigger consternation.
Though the board tried to avoid referring to Just Mayo in public-one email likens doing so to Hillary Clinton debating some “little-known, left wing” Democrat-private correspondence between board members and Edelman PR execs reveal Big Egg was anxious about the love Hampton Creek received from investors (including Bill Gates) and the media. The consultant suggested the board to maintain shut tabs on reactions to the publish – however to not reply.
Shapiro is aware of Hampton Creek co-founder Josh Balk and offered the paperwork to the corporate, which offered them to The Related Press.
While companies are surely free to wage PR campaigns, positive or negative, the important issue here is that the American Egg Board is a part of a program overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, making it under the purview of a government agency.
“In response, we bolstered efforts to increase the demand for eggs and egg products through research, education and promotional activities”, Ivy said.
The attempt to stop the sale of Just Mayo at Whole Foods raises regulatory questions, however.
That kind of attitude apparently provoked agitation at the headquarters of the American Egg Board.
The emails by egg board executives were obtained through a public records request by Ryan Noah Shapiro, a Freedom of Information Act expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his attorney, Jeffrey Light, who specializes in FOIA matters. However Roger McEowen, director of the Middle for Agricultural Regulation and Taxation at Iowa State College, stated it seems the board went past its authority. It also said that the product are not qualified to make implied health claims that they can reduce the risk of heart disease, given the amount of fat they contain. Hampton Creek’s mayo products are still sold in Whole Foods regardless of whatever calls may have been placed.
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Hampton Creek did come under fire in August 2015 after the US Food and Drug Administration warned that its products did not meet the legal definition of mayonnaise and could not claim they are low in cholesterol because of its fat content. The FDA said a complaint had been filed in April 2014, but did not disclose who it was from. According to the FDA, real mayonnaise legally has to contain eggs.
