Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
Two ads for Special K products:
a. A TV ad for Special K porridge, seen on 11 October 2015, featured various scenes of ingredients. The voice-over stated, "Special K. Full of deliciousness. Full of colour. And now, with pomegranate, pumpkin seeds and raspberries. Our new five grain super porridge is full of goodness." On-screen text stated, "Special K porridge contains vitamin B2 which contributes to the maintenance of normal skin".
b. Claims on the website www.specialk.co.uk, seen on 11 October 2015, focused on promoting the Special K range stated, "All Special K flakes are made with our unique Nutri K™ recipe making a nutritious and delicious start to your day".
Issue
The complainant challenged the claims, which were subject to Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods (the Regulation), as reflected in the BCAP and CAP Codes:
1. "Our new five grain super porridge is full of goodness" in ad (a); and
2. "our unique Nutri K™ recipe mak[es] a nutritious ... start to your day" in ad (b).
Response
1. Kellogg Marketing and Sales (UK) Company Ltd (Kellogg) explained that the name of the product was ‘Special K Super Porridge 5 Grains’ and therefore, the claim “full of goodness” related to the entirety of the product: the grains; fruits; seeds; and fortification.
Kellogg believed the claim “full of goodness” was a general health claim for the purposes of the Regulation and therefore, they were required to support such a claim with a specific authorised health claim. They understood that there were a number of such claims that could be made for the product and therefore, they chose the one most relevant for their consumers: “… contains vitamin B2 which contributes to the maintenance of normal skin”. Given that the ad included an authorised specific health claim which accompanied the general health claim, they believed they had complied with the BCAP Code.
Clearcast said they were satisfied that the porridge included five grains, instead of the three in the previous range, and that it was a non-HFSS (high in fat, salt or sugar) product. Therefore, they believed the ingredients and their benefits were appropriate for the product’s name ‘Super Porridge’.
Clearcast shared Kellogg’s understanding of the Regulation’s requirements when including a general health claim. They assessed the breakdown of nutrients in the product, with specific reference to the amount of riboflavin (vitamin B2) and they ensured the ad included a specific authorised health claim, namely ‘… contains vitamin B2 which contributes to the maintenance of normal skin”. On that basis, they were happy to clear the ad for broadcast.
2. Kellogg believed that use of the word “nutritious” in the ad was not a health claim i.e. one that would suggest a health benefit. They felt the term highlighted the product’s generic nutritional credentials and as such, it was removed from general health claims such as “goodness”, which did imply a positive benefit to health.
Kellogg explained that the reference to “nutritious” related to the Nutri K™ flake’s ingredients, which provided nutrition because it contained multiple B vitamins, Vitamin D, folic acid, zinc and iron. They said they had included a large amount of information on their website about the Nutri K™ recipe and the health benefits of the component nutrients of the Nutri K™ flake. They added that this information was designed to ensure that consumers were given the necessary information to make choices in full knowledge of the facts.
Kellogg noted that the CAP Code permitted the use of general health claims when accompanied by an authorised specific health claim. However, because they believed that “nutritious” was not a health claim, they did not feel the claim was required to be accompanied by a specific authorised health claim.
Assessment
1. Upheld
According to EC Regulation 1924/2006 on Nutrition and Health Claims made on Foods (the Regulation), which was reflected in the CAP and BCAP Codes, references to general benefits of a nutrient or food for overall good health or health-related well-being were acceptable only if accompanied by a specific authorised health claim.
The ASA shared Kellogg’s view that the claim “full of goodness” was a reference to a general, non-specific health benefit of the product and as such, we agreed that Kellogg was required to accompany it with a specific authorised health claim. The authorised health claim (in this case “… contains vitamin B2 which contributes to the maintenance of normal skin”) should be presented in such a way that it was clear that it accompanied that general health claim; it should be made next to or immediately following the general health claim.
The specific authorised health claim was shown on screen but we noted it disappeared before the general health claim “full of goodness” was stated in the voice-over. We therefore considered the specific health claim did not appear with or immediately following the general health claim “full of goodness”. As such, we considered it did not accompany the general health claim and in that regard, the ad breached the Code.
Specific authorised health claims used to accompany a reference to a general, non-specific health benefit should also bear some relevance to the general reference. Notwithstanding our concerns that the specific health claim did not properly accompany the general health claim in the ad, we considered that if the authorised health claim had appeared with the general health claim, viewers would have understood the claim “full of goodness” to relate more specifically to skin health. We further considered that such a health claim was relevant to Kellogg’s target audience for the product. Therefore, we considered that the specific authorised health claim in the ad was relevant to the general health claim and in that regard the ad did not breach the Code.
Although the ad did include a relevant specific authorised health claim, we concluded that because it was not presented next to or immediately following the general health claim “full of goodness” it did not accompany that claim, and the ad was therefore in breach of the Code.
On this point, ad (a) breached BCAP Code rule 13.4.3 13.4.3 References to general benefits of a nutrient or food for overall good health or health-related well-being are acceptable only if accompanied by a specific authorised health claim (Food, food supplements and associated health or nutrition claims).
2. Upheld
We acknowledged Kellogg’s view that the term “nutritious” highlighted the nutritional credentials of the Nutri K™ flake and that it was not a health claim.
The claim appeared on the home page of www.specialk.co.uk and we considered that in that context consumers would understand that the claim was about Kellogg’s Special K cereal. However, without any further information to help consumers understand the context of the claim we considered they were likely to interpret it as one which implied that Kellogg’s Special K was “nutritious” because of its nutritional content and was, therefore, “good for you”. As such, we considered the claim “our unique Nutri K™ recipe mak[es] a nutritious ... start to your day” was likely to be understood as a reference to the general benefits of Nutri K™ flake products for the overall health of consumers. Therefore, it should have been accompanied by a specific authorised health claim.
From the home page (on which the claim first appeared), consumers must click through a further two pages to reach the dedicated page for Nutri K™ flakes. That page listed a specific authorised health claim alongside a list of nutrients found in the flakes. However, accompanying specific health claims should appear next to or immediately following the general health claim. We therefore concluded the presentation of the claim, as it appeared on the home page, breached the Code.
On this point, ad (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 15.2 15.2 References to general benefits of a nutrient or food for overall good health or health-related well-being are acceptable only if accompanied by a specific authorised health claim. (Food, food supplements and associated health or nutrition claims).
Action
Ads (a) and (b) must not appear again in their current form. We told Kellogg Marketing and Sales (UK) Company Ltd to ensure that relevant authorised health claims accompanied any general health claims that featured in their advertising.
