Probiotic maker sues Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog over ‘defamatory’ product report
IPC Works Limited files lawsuit against Consumer Council after watchdog publishes report saying PicoLabb product contained harmful bacteria
The producer of PicoLabb probiotics is suing the Hong Kong Consumer Council for allegedly making defamatory statements about its product in a monthly report that resulted in the company losing more than HK$4.4 million (US$566,000) in business.
The lawsuit from IPC Works Limited referred to the watchdog’s January report, which singled out a probiotic under the company’s PicoLabb brand and listed the product as containing Enterococcus faecalis.
The report said the bacteria type had not been recommended for human consumption by a UN joint working group of the Food and Agriculture Organization and the WHO.
But the plaintiff said in a writ made available at the High Court on Monday that its product had “expressly and specifically” stated on its food label that the supplement contained a strain of bacteria called “TH 10” that was proved by medical research to have beneficial effects for the human body.
The company, which was founded by health technology and naturopathy expert Vian Li in 2012, argued the watchdog had made false statements by grouping the TH 10 strain with the bacteria’s general species and had failed to highlight the differences.
It also argued that the council was fully aware that a UN food and nutrition report had recognised there were some strains of the bacteria, including TH 10, that would not result in drug resistance to one type of antibiotic.
