CONTENTS
- 1. Advisory Lawyer | Greenwashing as It Applies to the Food Industry
- - Domestic Regulations Concerning Greenwashing
- - Cases of Greenwashing Detected in the Food Industry
- 2. Advisory Lawyer | Overall Greenwashing Advisory for a Food Company
- - Reviewing the Legality of Environmental Labeling and Advertising Statements
- - Advisory on Preparing Substantiating Materials
- - Building an Internal Compliance System
- 3. Advisory Lawyer | The Need to Review Sustainability-Related Greenwashing
1. Advisory Lawyer | Greenwashing as It Applies to the Food Industry
We introduce an advisory attorney's case of greenwashing and compliance advisory.
‘Greenwashing’ refers to a labeling or advertising practice that misleads consumers into believing that a product or service is environmentally friendly without any substantive environmentally friendly activity.
According to the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute, greenwashing has been detected about 23 times more often over the past 4 years, and the industries in which it has been detected have expanded beyond the existing chemical and manufacturing sectors to consumer goods in general, including food and household products.
The food industry is no exception.
According to a report published in 2023 by the Dutch environmental organization ‘Changing Markets Foundation,’ the field where greenwashing was most serious was the food industry, including the meat and dairy sectors.
Many instances of erroneous environmental claims, such as ‘eco-friendly packaging,’ ‘carbon-reducing manufacturing process,’ and ‘sustainable raw materials,’ are found in marketing phrases and promotional materials presented through food labels and advertising.
Companies must base their marketing phrases on scientific and objective supporting evidence and must not omit or distort essential information.
The food company client that came to the firm's advisory attorney likewise requested legal advisory in order to prepare for the possibility of an investigation by relevant regulatory authorities, such as the Ministry of Environment and the Fair Trade Commission, regarding environmental labeling of product packaging and containers.
The advisory attorney noted that as ESG management has emerged as a core element of corporate competitiveness, external monitoring and regulation of it have become more precise and persistent, and accordingly provided legal advisory so that brand credibility and corporate sustainability would not face a crisis due to greenwashing controversy.
Domestic Regulations Concerning Greenwashing
In Korea, greenwashing cases are regulated by the Ministry of Environment and the Fair Trade Commission.
The Ministry of Environment regulates labeling and advertising related to the environmental attributes of products, while the Fair Trade Commission regulates labeling and advertising across all fields of goods and services.
A violation of the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising related to the environment may be subject to the following sanctions.
Unfair advertising conduct | Imprisonment for up to 2 years or a fine of up to 150 million won |
Refusal of or interference with an investigation into a violation of the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising | Administrative fine of up to 200 million won |
Failure to provide labeling and advertising of important information and failure to submit substantiating materials, among others | Administrative fine of up to 10 million won |
Cases of Greenwashing Detected in the Food Industry
1. European beverage brand Company A - Greenwashing through the advertising message ‘good for the planet’
Company A, a European plant-based beverage brand, used the phrase ‘good for the planet’ as an advertising slogan for its plant-based beverages.
In response, the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority and the Advertising Standards Authority issued an order to stop the advertisement, stating that ‘simply being less harmful to the environment cannot necessarily be regarded as being good for the planet.’
2. Danish food company Company D - Misleading consumers with the phrase ‘climate change control’
In March 2024, the Danish High Court determined that an advertisement in which Company D, a pork producer, used the phrase ‘climate change control’ constituted greenwashing that misled consumers.
Citing a violation of the Marketing Act, the court ordered a fine of 300,000 kroner (approximately 58.85 million won at the exchange rate at the time) and a corrective order.
This is the first judgment in Denmark recognizing greenwashing.
2. Advisory Lawyer | Overall Greenwashing Advisory for a Food Company
Through collaboration with corporate attorneys well versed in environmental law and the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising, attorneys specializing in the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, and other industry-specific specialists, this firm formed an advisory attorney task force and provided greenwashing advisory services to a food company.
Reviewing the Legality of Environmental Labeling and Advertising Statements
The advisory attorney pointed out that the first priority was to review whether advertising phrases such as eco-friendly, harmless, and sustainable could be substantiated.
In the case of the client company, there was a possibility of incorporating excessive "eco-friendly elements" into nonverbal elements such as the design, color, and graphics of the product packaging, so the advisory attorney preemptively reviewed the advertisements and phrases in question and eliminated the possibility of a violation.
In addition, the advisory attorney explained that advertising future plans for environmental management as follows constitutes proper eco-friendly management activity.
▶Purchasing the ingredients needed for product production in bulk as organic, thereby stimulating the organic food market
▶Indicating an intention to continue purchasing organic ingredients in the future
▶Supplying a substantial portion of the beef used as grass-fed beef, thereby demonstrating reduced carbon emissions compared with farm-raised animals
▶Decision of the U.S. NAD (National Advertising Division): recognizing the advertiser's provision of active support to realize the claims made in the labeling and advertising
Advisory on Preparing Substantiating Materials
The advisory attorney advised the client to prepare empirical materials so that the client could establish a response strategy in the event of a later investigation by administrative agencies such as the Ministry of Environment and the Fair Trade Commission.
By presenting the requirements for scientific and objective empirical materials that could support the advertising language, the attorney recommended that the client compile a list of the technical reports, test reports, and third-party certification materials required for each food product and each process so as to respond to any future investigation.
Building an Internal Compliance System
The advisory attorney subsequently provided online and offline training for executives and employees, assisting in establishing the company's internal compliance framework.
The attorney advised that a collaborative framework among the ESG-related team, the public relations and marketing team, and the legal team should be formed, creating an organization capable of managing greenwashing-related risks, and that company-wide guidelines and a review process were needed.
To this end, the attorney helped raise the risk awareness of practitioners through lectures on domestic and international greenwashing regulatory trends and legislation, as well as the introduction of major industry-specific enforcement cases.
3. Advisory Lawyer | The Need to Review Sustainability-Related Greenwashing
Greenwashing risk in the food industry is not resolved through simple wording adjustments or one-time training.
Even a single phrase such as "eco-friendly packaging" requires complex legal review, and the effect that such a phrase has on the overall brand image is also significant.
This firm's advisory attorneys provided comprehensive legal advisory so that the corporate client could autonomously recognize greenwashing issues internally and establish a practical response system through interdepartmental collaboration.
As in this case, we encourage you to closely monitor ESG-related laws and regulatory trends together with the advisory attorneys of the corporate legal affairs group and to thoroughly support the legality of environmental management and advertising labeling.
If you require advisory related to greenwashing, please leave a 🔗legal consultation appointment with Daeryun, Korea's 9th-ranked law firm (based on 2025 value-added tax filings with the National Tax Service), at any time.
This content is based on actual case studies of Daeryun Law LLC with some adaptations, and the copyright belongs to our firm.
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