A.A. Milne brought to “bear” to help settle dispute between Waltham Forest council and Greek food firm.

 

A.A. Milne brought to “bear” to help settle dispute between Waltham Forest council and Greek food firm.

It is not every day that a judge quotes Winnie the Pooh. But recently, a judge quoted Pooh when delivering an extraordinary judgement over what constitutes “raw honey”.

A Judge was asked to settle a row between a high-end Greek food firm and a London council over whether the company could call their product “raw” or “artisan”.

The dispute, between Waltham Forest, home to 100 Acre Wood,trading standards and the food firm, brought out the storyteller in the judge, who began by reciting AA Milne in his written decision.

The judge quoted Pooh : “‘The things that make me different are the things that make me me”,  Pooh must have seen quite a bit of honey eaten over the years. If Pooh had eaten ‘raw honey’, what would be different about it?”

In the end, the judge decided not to conclude over what defines the term raw honey, refusing to agree with the council that by calling the product “raw” it suggested it had special characteristics. He ruled in favour of the Greek firm.

What would Pooh have thought of it all?