Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
Claims on menshealth.com-7.co, promoting food supplements, were set out as an editorial feature. Text stated "For the past couple of months our readers have been going crazy over two free internet products that are helping men across the world lose the fat & get shredded abs in less than 1 month ... Originally developed by the US military for their sepcial [sic] forces, celebrities, like Ryan Reynolds & Gerlad [sic] Butler, have since used the combination to lose a signifcant [sic] amount of body fat while at the same time adding insane amounts of muscle, with just these 2 diet products. The first is a muscle builder and the second is a fat burner. It's a deadly combo for getting insanely ripped. The two supplemental [sic] are clinically proven to flush out all the junks in your body and melt away body fat without harming your immune system. But even better, these supplemetns [sic] put on natural looking muscle gains and are both healthy and kind to your insides ... You may have heard of the enormously popular Lean Muscle X in the news ... It's a completely organic supplement ... Combine it with a powerful testo booster, and you've created a muscle building machine ... Lean Muscle X has been clinically proven to: ... Enhance athletic performance and strength Pump more blood into your muscles by expanding your veins and capillaries ... Help give muscles shape, definition and size ... helps take off the hard to lose fat and allows your body to work and burn calories more efficiently. Test Force Xtreme has been clinically proven to: Help increase the number of calories burned Fight free radical damage to your muscles Have higher antioxidants than pomegranates and blueberries Increase energy and fight fatigue Help burn calories even when resting Get rid of the bloated "puffy" look Boost metabolism Clean out / detox your colon which can lead to serious weight loss and increased energy Help give muscles shape definition Enhance sexual performance".
A link to the product stating "Step 1: Get A Free Trial of Lean Muscle X" led to the website www.tryleanmusclextreme.com.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether:
1. the health claims concerning weight loss, muscle build, detox and performance health claims were authorised on the EU health register; and,
2. the claim "it's a completely organic supplement" was misleading and could be substantiated.
Response
Lean Muscle X did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA noted that Lean Muscle X was the company whose product was being advertised and that it was their website that consumers were directed to obtain the "free trial". We considered that, as the beneficiaries of the marketing material, they were responsible for the ad and for responding to the ASA investigation.
We were concerned by Lean Muscle X's lack of substantive response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 1.7 Any unreasonable delay in responding to the ASA's enquiries will normally be considered a breach of the Code. (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to provide a substantive response to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
1. We noted that Lean Muscle X had not supplied evidence or other information that showed that the claims that the product could contribute to weight loss, could contribute to muscle build, could detox the colon or could enhance sexual performance were authorised on the EU register.
We therefore concluded that the claims were misleading and in breach of the Code.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
15.1
15.1
Marketing communications that contain nutrition or health claims must be supported by documentary evidence to show they meet the conditions of use associated with the relevant claim, as specified in the EU Register. Claims must be presented clearly and without exaggeration.
15.1.1
15.1.1
Only nutrition claims listed in the updated Annex of the EU Regulation (as reproduced in the EU Register) may be used in marketing communications.
http://www.ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/claims/community_register/nutrition_claims_en.htm
Only health claims listed as authorised in the EU Register, or claims that would have the same meaning to the consumer may be used in marketing communications.
http://www.ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/claims/community_register/authorised_health_claims_en.htm.
and
15.7
15.7
Nutrition and health claims for food supplements must be permitted or authorised as provided for at rule 15.1.1 above. Marketing communications that contain nutrition or health claims must be supported by documentary evidence to show they meet the conditions of use associated with the relevant claim as specified in the EU Register.
(Food supplements and other Vitamins and Minerals).
2. We considered that consumers would understand the claim "it's a completely organic supplement" to mean the product met an independently defined organic standard or used a high proportion of organic ingredients, but noted that we had not seen any evidence showing that this was the case. We therefore concluded that the claim was misleading.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
15.1
15.1
Marketing communications that contain nutrition or health claims must be supported by documentary evidence to show they meet the conditions of use associated with the relevant claim, as specified in the EU Register. Claims must be presented clearly and without exaggeration.
15.1.1
15.1.1
Only nutrition claims listed in the updated Annex of the EU Regulation (as reproduced in the EU Register) may be used in marketing communications.
http://www.ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/claims/community_register/nutrition_claims_en.htm
Only health claims listed as authorised in the EU Register, or claims that would have the same meaning to the consumer may be used in marketing communications.
http://www.ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/claims/community_register/authorised_health_claims_en.htm.
and
15.7
15.7
Nutrition and health claims for food supplements must be permitted or authorised as provided for at rule 15.1.1 above. Marketing communications that contain nutrition or health claims must be supported by documentary evidence to show they meet the conditions of use associated with the relevant claim as specified in the EU Register.
(Food supplements and other Vitamins and Minerals).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told the advertisers to ensure their claims were in line with the requirements of the EU health register and that they held evidence to support their claims. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
