The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK has ordered Oppo Brothers Ltd to remove its “health” claims used in their ice cream advertisement, which said that they were using “super-fruit” and “super-foods”, the product was not only indulgent, but also healthy.
The ad was brought to the attention of the ASA by another ice cream maker, Perfect World Ice Cream Company Ltd, who challenged the references to healthiness, “super-foods” and “super-fruit”, which were subject to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods.
Consequently, after assessing the situation, the ASA decided: “We considered the references to healthiness, “super-foods” and “super-fruit” were likely to be understood as relating to general benefits of the products or their ingredients for overall good health or health-related well-being. However, they were not accompanied by any specific authorized health claim. We therefore concluded that the claims breached the Code.”
In conclusion, the ASA made the following statement: “The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Oppo Ice Cream not to make references to general benefits of a nutrient or food for overall good health or health-related well-being unless those claims were accompanied by a relevant, authorized health claim.”
