Dole Foods has dropped its lawsuit against the Swedish filmmaker behind the controversial documentary Bananas!, after questions were raised over free speech.

The banana giant said it had received complaints from Sweden, including a Dole customer, Swedish food chain ICA, that it was trying to limit free speech after it sued filmmaker Fredrik Gertten for showing his controversial documentary Bananas!, despite a court ruling that said it was based on a fraud.

In the film, Nicaraguan workers claim to have been made sterile by a pesticide used at Dole banana plantations in the 1970s, but it was later uncovered that the workers were allegedly recruited by a lawyer - a ruling that has been appealed.

Dole's executive vice-president and general counsel Michael Carter said in a statement that it decided to withdraw the lawsuit "in light of the free speech concerns being expressed in Sweden, although it continues to believe in the merits of its case.

"While the filmmakers continue to show a film that is fundamentally flawed and contains many false statements, we look forward to an open discussion with the filmmakers regarding the content of the film.”

ICA's fruit and vegetables chief Lars Astrom told The Associated Press: "We met their European division and... put forward our view on the matter. We said we thought they should withdraw the lawsuit and asked them to get back to us, and now they have done that."

The film's producer, Margarete Jangard, was pleased to have “made a differece” without funding and with the support of others.

Under threat of lawsuits by Dole, Bananas! was shown twice in June with a written disclaimer by Los Angeles Film Festival organisers, who said it was worth showing as a case study but was not a fair and accurate presentation of banana workers.

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