Lidl Store Accused of Mislabeling Israeli Avocados as Moroccan Amid Gaza Conflict

It all started with a post published on X on November 6, 2023. Its author Sarah accuses a Lidl supermarket in the Bas-Rhin department. "The item is supposed to come from Morocco according to its label, but after turning it over, it turns out that the real origin is Israel," writes the young woman, who explains to Actu.fr that it was her cousin Marie* who took the photos for the post. "As a law student, my reflex was to try to understand why such misinformation was given to customers," the latter reacts.

The group Lidl claims that "it is a display error, due to the fact that we regularly have in the aisles avocados and pomegranates of different origins (Spain, Peru, Colombia, Kenya, Israel, etc.)". Not enough to reassure the Actu editorial staff, whose team went to the Lidl supermarket mentioned in Sarah’s post. If they were able to observe two distinct labels on site this time (one announcing avocados from Israel and another from Morocco), they were surprised to note that the label stuck on the carton where the avocados from the kingdom are stored indicates an origin from Chile, while a variety of avocados of Mexican origin is sold under the "Israel" label.

When they question an employee of the supermarket about the episode raised by Sarah as a customer, she explains that on that day, the carton contained both avocados from Morocco and Israel. A version that contradicts the group, which mentioned "a display error."

In an article dated 09/10/2023 published on its website, the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF) specified that "food products presented for sale must provide clear and accurate labeling in order to best inform the consumer." And to add: "The regulations applicable to food products require that their origin be correctly indicated to consumers. Through its controls, the DGCCRF ensures that this information is provided transparently to consumers, according to the modalities applicable to the different categories of products concerned.