San Benedetto – The Food Fact: a lawsuit filed with the sole purpose of intimidating and silencing those who criticise power

Drafted 1 June, updated 25 December 2025. The San Benedetto – The Food Fact affair ended up in The Times in May 2025

Press freedom according to Reporters Sans Frontieres: Italy, within two years – from 2022 to 2024 – went from 41st place to 49th.

I had mentioned this at the Teatro Parenti, at the presentation of my book, Le Ossa dei Caprotti.

And I had written about it, regarding the events that had concerned me, a few years ago, and which also involved various criminal charges, including stalking.

But also in the affairs concerning the Nestlé waters or the acquisition of Auchan by Conad, with the related redundancies, where the Italian media had been very careful not to report the news.

I also remember a historical case of a prevaricating and intimidating company – Coca-Cola – the Goliath of the FMCG, which had manoeuvred against the David – Esselunga in order not to have articles appear that put it in a bad light.

I therefore also find it right to report the Acqua San Benedetto – IL Fatto Alimentare affair, which recently ended up in The Times, because I cannot stand the arrogance of bullies.

In a nutshell, Il Fatto Alimentare had criticised a San Benedetto ad

San Benedetto had accused Il Fatto Alimentare of defamation, demanding €1.5 million.

The water and soft drink producer lost and was ordered to pay the legal costs.

...The article relates the San Benedetto-Il Fatto Alimentare case to the defamation lawsuits brought by Giorgia Meloni against Roberto Saviano and by ENI against the journalist Claudio Gatti for an article published in Il Fatto Quotidiano, calling it ‘the latest [case, ed.] in a series of lawsuits in Italy that have brought attention to the issue of freedom of speech’.

You can read the rest of the story here: 300 days after the Fatto Alimentare’s request to the Antitrust to censor theSan Benedetto mineral water commercials where the words ‘Ecogreen CO2 impact ZERO’ appear, and also the marketing of bottles with the same wording on the label, the company ‘modified its commercial communication’ concerning ‘labels/packaging/website/spots, among other things, completely eliminating the words “CO2 IMPACT ZERO”. San Benedetto also changed ‘the claims that were associated with it’ and the You Tube site.

“The company,” the Antitrust Authority states, “has removed the profiles of possible unfairness of environmental claims and boasts – the so-called green claims – used to promote and market the products of the Ecogreen line. In particular, on the labels of the bottles of the Ecogreen line, on the website www.sanbenedetto.it and in some promotional spots/videos on both the website and the YouTube channel, environmental claims were made that the production of the mineral water bottles did not involve greenhouse gas emissions or even had a positive impact on the environment.”…

I find the timeframe (300 days!) hallucinating, but above all the initial ‘modalities’ that, unfortunately, I know very well, although in my case it has transcended, with a defamatory and persecutory campaign.

In this country, all too often, judicial institutions are used against those with fewer resources.

It usually starts with a very often specious letter, from the criminal lawyer, simply to try to silence those who annoy.

Then it continues with lawsuits that are likely to be very costly for those who lose them.

These lawsuits have a name, they are called SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) they are lawsuits filed with the sole purpose of intimidating and silencing those who criticise power.

Politicians, corporations, public bodies or private companies use the legal instrument not to enforce a wrong suffered, but to punish and discourage those who dare to speak out, denounce, investigate. The result? Unsustainable legal costs, years of hearings, reputation at risk. In a word: gag.

That said, looking at the overall picture of the media, in 2025, the situation has worsened, in Italy and worldwide.

On reckless litigation read also this article.