Unilever drops Just Mayo lawsuit after labelling dispute

Battle of the brands... Hampton Creek’s Just Mayo is an egg-free product made from yellow pea (AP)

Unilever, the maker of Hellmann's mayonnaise, has dropped its lawsuit against "Just Mayo".

The consumer products giant took legal action earlier this year against Hampton Creek, a start-up backed by Bill Gates, for false advertising on the grounds that its products do not use eggs.

In the lawsuit, Unilever claimed "Just Mayo" was trying to steal its market share by labelling its eggless products mayo. The company argued mayonnaise must contain eggs and a certain percentage of oil according to the American Food and Drugs Administration. Hampton Creek argued they used to word mayo - not mayonnaise - to avoid confusion.

Yesterday, Unilever said it was dropping its lawsuit and consumers should raise their concerns about Just Mayo to regulatory authorities. Their decision comes after the company had to re-label some of its products to refer to them as "mayonnaise dressing" rather than mayonnaise.

The Anglo-Dutch multinational holds the biggest share of the US mayonnaise market, which is worth approximately $2 billion, according to market-research firm Euromonitor.