Spanish seed company Eurosemillas has contacted two supermarket chains following a complaint about the mislabeling of its Tang Gold mandarin.

Valencia's Directorate-General for Consumer Affairs presented the complaint against Aldi and Carrefour on behalf of non-profit Valencian farmer organization La Union.

According to La Union, two protected mandarin varieties were being sold under similar names - Tang Gold/Nadorcott and Nadorcot/Tango. Eurosemillas says this labeling could lead consumers to incorrectly think that Tang Gold is the same variety as Nadorcott.

It says Carrefour is currently rectifying the mistake in its stores and it hopes Aldi will do the same in the coming days.

"Both Spain and the European Union have officially recognized Tang Gold as a different variety, both for the absence of seeds in the fruit - even if it has been exposed to pollen from others - and for not being a variety that contaminates neighbor orchards with its seeds," Eurosemillas says.

"This is well-known by licensed growers of Tango (registered in the EU as Tang Gold), who don't need to isolate or cover their trees or treat them with pesticides to deter or kill bees so as to avoid cross-pollination.

"They have also confirmed that their prices are significantly higher than other mandarins that cannot offer the seedless guarantee. With this information, one can better understand the legitimacy of and motivation behind the complaint."

Eurosemillas says it is using certification technology to detect fraud along the entire supply chain. It says this technology is valid in courts as the samples are taken by an international and independent certifying agency.

The company says it considers mislabeling of its varieties to be "fraudulent practices" that "confuse the consumer, constitute a flagrant violation of owner's rights - in this case, those of the University of California and Eurosemillas - and causes obvious harm to the licensed grower of the variety."

Eurosemillas adds that this season the number of exporters shipping Tang Gold/Tango has doubled year-on-year.

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