ASA Adjudication on Publishing House

Ad

A national press ad, for a book by Dr Vernon Coleman, was headlined "How Many Times A Week Do You Eat Cancer? Dr Vernon Coleman". Text continued "Cows, sheep, pigs and other animals all get cancer. So, how do you know, when you cut into a steak, a lamb chop or a piece of ham, that there isn't a lump of cancer inside your steak, chop or ham? How do you know that your burger or sausage doesn't contain ground up bits of cancer? You don't. As your knife cuts into the meat you could well by [sic] cutting into a lump of cancer. The piece of meat you raise to your mouth, on the end of your fork, could well contain a tumour. Now that animals are increasingly likely to have been 'fed' or 'treated' with carcinogenic chemicals, this risk gets greater every year. Farmers and butchers claim that animals are checked before they're slaughtered. But they can't possibly see what is happening inside an animal's tissues. You won't be able to see the lump of cancer. But you'll be eating it. So will everyone else who eats meat. And I thought you'd like to know. You will never forget this warning. Every time you eat a piece of meat (or see someone else cut into a piece of meat) you will wonder … how much cancer am I eating today? For more information about food, cancer and health read Food for Thought and Coleman's Laws by Vernon Coleman. Available from all good bookshops and libraries …". A quote at the foot of the ad, attributed to The Good Book Guide, stated "Vernon Coleman writes brilliant books".

Issue

The complainants challenged whether:

1. the ad misleadingly exaggerated the likelihood of cancerous tissue being present in meat products and

2. Vernon Coleman could substantiate the implication that eating cancerous tissue was damaging to human health.

3. Two of the complainants challenged whether the ad used an undue appeal to fear to promote the views of Vernon Coleman.

One of the complainants questioned:

4. whether the claim "Now that animals are increasingly likely to have been 'fed' or 'treated' with carcinogenic chemicals, this risk gets greater every year" could be substantiated and

5. whether the ad unfairly denigrated farmers and butchers by suggesting that they allowed sick or diseased animals to enter the food chain.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Vernon Coleman did not respond to the ASAs enquiries.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA was concerned by Vernon Colemans lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code clause 2.6 (Non-response). We reminded him of his responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told him to do so in future.

1., 2. & 4. Complaints upheld

We considered that the ad implied cancerous tissue was present in meat products and was damaging to human health. In addition, we considered that the ad implied there was an increased risk of cancerous tissue being present in meat because of animals being fed or treated with carcinogenic chemicals. In the absence of any explanation or substantiation to support these implications, we concluded that the claims were likely to mislead.

On points 1, 2 & 4, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

3. Complaints upheld

We considered that claims such as "How many times a week do you eat cancer?" and "You will never forget this warning. Every time you eat a piece of meat (or see someone else cut into a piece of meat) you will wonder ... how much cancer am I eating today?" were likely to cause alarm and concern amongst readers. Because we had not seen evidence to suggest that the level of alarm was appropriate or reasonable, we concluded that the ad used an undue appeal to fear to promote the author's views.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clause 9.1 (Fear and distress).

5. Complaint not upheld

We noted the ad stated "... Farmers and butchers claim that animals are checked before they're slaughtered. But they can't possibly see what is happening inside an animal's tissues. You won't be able to see the lump of cancer. But you'll be eating it ...". While we acknowledged that the claim suggested meat contained harmful carcinogenic material, we considered it did not go so far as to imply farmers and butchers wilfully or negligently allowed sick or diseased animals to enter the food chain; we therefore considered that the ad was unlikely to be seen as unfairly denigrating farmers and butchers.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code clause 20.1 (Denigration and unfair advantage) but did not find it in breach.

Action

We told Vernon Coleman not to repeat the ad in its current form and reminded him of his responsibility to respond to ASA enquiries promptly in future. We noted CAP had informed its media members of the problem with Vernon Coleman.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)