Red Light for Dairy & milk – UK ASA find Nestle claims untruthful, dishonest and unsubstantiated.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston said "Manufacturers and agencies that promote cow's milk products will have to be far more careful in the future. Cow's milk is a good source of calcium for a baby cow - helping a calf to grow to the size of a small shed in a few weeks. Human nutritional needs are more complex - we need magnesium and vitamins K & D to fully utilise calcium and we certainly don't need all that saturated animal fat that comes free with cow’s milk."

It’s not more milk but more fruit and vegetables that are needed in people's diets - especially green leafy veg rich in essential fats, vitamins, minerals, antioxidents and phytonutrients.

There have been a lot of snake oil type misleading claims about milk recently - the Nestle advert is just one amongst many by the dairy industry.

It’s anticipated that milk will also suffer in the new UK Food Standards Agency traffic light system for healthier food labelling. It’s so tempting for manufacturers and caterers to ditch the dairy and move a dish from a red light category to an amber label in the midst of increasing consumer consciousness about nutrition, diet and healthier eating.


Complaint:

The Vegan Society and a member of the public objected to an advertorial on the AOL website. The article was aimed at women and entitled "Mastering Your Metabolism Part 3: Eat well, feel great." One paragraph was headed "Dairy Products" and stated "Essential for healthy bones …". The complainants objected that the ad was misleading because it was not necessary to eat dairy products to obtain healthy bones. ( Codes Section: 3.1, 6.1, 7.1 (Ed 11))

Adjudication:

Complaints upheld - Nestle UK said they recognised that there were other sources of calcium and they had not intended to suggest that dairy products were the only source of calcium.

The ASA considered that the use of the word "essential" implied dairy products were the only source of calcium. Because that was not correct, they concluded that the advertorial was likely to mislead and advised Nestle to amend the claim and to seek assistance from the CAP Copy Advice team before using a similar campaign in future.

The advertorial breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 6.1 (Honesty) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Editors Notes

Full adjudication

http://www.asa.org.uk
/asa/adjudications/non_broadcast/Adjudication+Details.htm?Adjudication_id=40314

http://www.nestle.com

http://www.vegansociety.com

http://www.news.foodsforlife.org