ASA Adjudication on Weetabix Ltd

Ad

A magazine promotion for Oatibix breakfast cereal showed a picture of three small girls; text underneath stated "Young at heart Help keep your family's heart healthy and boost your energy levels with new delicious Oatibix and Oatibix bitesize ... High in fibre, Oatibix bitesize contain an added prebiotic to help support the friendly bacteria in your family's tummies Oatibix bitesize are tasty, crispy bites, which your kids will love, that are also available in Sultana & Apple flavour ...".

Issue

The complainant challenged whether the ad was misleading and irresponsible, because it encouraged parents to give their children Oatibix bitesize but did not make clear that the bitesize product contained a much higher sugar level than the standard product.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Weetabix said Oatibix and Oatibix bitesize both consisted mainly of wholegrain oats.   They said Oatibix bitesize was 88.1% wholegrain oats.

Weetabix said the main theme of the ad was heart health and both products met the requirements of the Joint Health Claims Initiative for making a heart health claim.  They asserted that the ads statement "Oatibix and Oatibix bitesize include 100% wholegrain oats" made clear that both products included ingredients other than wholegrain oats.  They asserted that the ad did not intend to claim that nothing else was added to the cereals or to imply that sugar was not part of the product make-up and pointed out that the nutritional composition of the two products was clearly stated on the packaging and on their website.

They asserted that, although Oatibix bitesize contained more sugar than Oatibix, it also contained more fibre, was fortified with vitamins and iron and had added prebiotics which could boost friendly bacteria levels in the stomach.  They asserted that the Institute of Grocery Distributions Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) of total sugars for five to ten year olds was 85g and that the recommended 36g serving of Oatibix bitesize without milk contained 5.1g of sugar, which was only 6% of the GDA; a 36g serving of Oatibix bitesize with Sultana and Apple without milk contained 6.97g of sugar, which was 8.2% of the GDA: the latter was higher because of the sugars naturally occurring in fruit.  They believed the amount of sugar in Oatibix bitesize was less than that in most children's cereals and the high wholegrain oat content, high fibre and vitamin fortification provided consumers with a healthier option.

Haymarket Consumer Publications said the ad was supplied to them and they had had no input into its content.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the official guidelines from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) stated that foods which contained 10g or more of non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) per 100g were high in sugar.  We noted, however, the peer-reviewed article on which the FSA guidelines were based stated that the nutritional value of whole meals or main dishes should be assessed on a per serving basis; we noted Oatibix bitesize was a breakfast food that constituted a whole meal and its nutritional value should therefore be assessed in light of the FSA guidelines on a per serving basis.  We noted the FSA guidelines for sugar were based on the recommended daily intake of NMES rather than total sugars, which meant the sugar content of a serving of Oatibix bitesize should be assessed without milk.  We noted a 36g serving of Oatibix bitesize without milk contained 5.1g of sugar and a 36g serving of Oatibix bitesize with Sultana and Apple without milk contained 6.97g of sugar.  We therefore noted Oatibix bitesize and Oatibix bitesize with Sultana and Apple did not contain "a lot" of sugar according to the FSA guidelines.

We noted Oatibix bitesize contained more sugar than regular Oatibix, more fibre, was fortified with vitamins and iron and had added prebiotics. We also noted the recommended 36g serving of Oatibix bitesize provided 6% and a serving of Oatibix bitesize with Sultana and Apple provided 8.2% of the GDA of sugar for five to ten year olds.  We considered that consumers were likely to expect that the composition of Oatibix and Oatibix bitesize was not exactly the same.  We also considered that, although the ad did not make clear that Oatibix bitesize contained more sugar than regular Oatibix, because the level of sugar was only a small proportion of the GDA for children and was less than the sugar content of several other cereals, and because the product contained more fibre, vitamins and iron than regular Oatibix, the higher level of sugar was unlikely to have a significant impact on a consumers decision as to whether to purchase Oatibix bitesize.  We considered that the ad should not have to state explicitly that Oatibix bitesize contained more sugar and concluded that it was not irresponsible and was unlikely to mislead consumers.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 2.2 (Responsible advertising) and 7.1 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)