A German court has ruled that US tobacco company Santa Fe cannot continue marketing its cigarettes as 'organic'.

The regional court in Hamburg said that Santa Fe Natural Tobacco may no longer sell its Natural American Spirit brand with the label, "organic filter cigarettes," after Germany’s federal consumer protection agency filed a lawsuit against the company.
The court said that the concept 'organic' implies that the cigarette is not harmful and thus violates national tobacco and business competition laws.
Santa Fe Natural Tobacco, which is a unit of Reynolds American, promoted its cigarettes on flyers with the inscription that they are made with "100-per cent organic tobacco". The company, whose German unit is based in Hamburg, says its cigarettes are made with bio-degradable paper filters and comply with European Union rules for organic products. (pi)