Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited says it processes are transparent and they comply with national standards. The beverage company said this in response to accusations of consumer rights violation by Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
“Coca-Cola Nigeria provides clear, accessible nutrition information on our packaging in line with national regulatory requirements and is committed to transparency for consumers,” Coca-Cola said in a statement Saturday.
The companies said safeguarding consumer interests are prioritised, and constructive collaboration with the government will be continued.
“We strongly believe that the Coca-Cola System in Nigeria has complied with all regulations and look forward to the opportunity to bring this topic to closure,” it added.
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FCCPC had announced Friday that it has imposed sanctions on Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited and the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) for violating consumer rights with misleading trade descriptions and unfair marketing tactics in their products.
The consumer protection commission said it became aware in June 2919 that the beverage makers had started migrating their Coke brand from a formulation that included regular sugar to non-nutritive sweeteners.
“By December 2020, the Commission was convinced based on the evidence, that Coca-Cola and NBC on multiple occasions, and counts violated, and remained in violation of the FCCA,” the commission’s statement said.
“Some of the products had indeed changed and were different. Differently formulated and not the same as their otherwise “classic, or “Original Taste” whereby one of the parties also attempted to or misled the Commission under Section 112 of the FCCPA.”
On July 29, 2024, the commission served its final order on Coca-Cola and NBC. It highlighted that the companies have misleading trade descriptions under Section 116 FCCPA by continuing to mislead consumers into believing Coca-Cola Original Taste is not materially different from Coca-Cola’s “Original Taste, Less Sugar.”
“It also had unfair marketing tactics: Contrary to Section 124(1)(a) of the FCCPA, Coca-Cola Nigeria markets Coca-Cola Original Taste Less Sugar in packaging first, indistinguishable, and now not sufficiently distinguishable from Coca-Cola Original Taste, contrary to Sections 123(1)(a), (b), and (c) of the FCCPA,” the statement said.
However Coca-Cola and NBC insist they are committed to ethical business practices.
