ASA Adjudication on Map Trading Ltd

Ad

A TV ad on Zee TV in Hindi, for cooking oil, featured a man exercising while a woman fried food. The man was then shown standing beside the woman in the kitchen, asking "What is this Poori and Pakodas? We had decided to eat healthy food". The woman answered "That's why I'm using White Pearl Oil. Cholesterol free, worry free". A voice-over, in English, stated "White Pearl Oils. Cholesterol free, worry free. White Pearl Oils. The taste of perfection". On-screen text stated "White Pearl Oils the taste of perfection" next to an image of tins of corn oil, sunflower oil and vegetable oil.

Issue

One viewer challenged whether the ad was misleading because it implied that deep fried food was healthy. The complainant thought that was particularly relevant given the high incidence of heart disease among Asian people.

BCAP TV Code

Response

Map Trading Ltd (Map) provided information about White Pearl Oils from their food technology consultants. They said they had been advised that it was acceptable to refer to the oils as "cholesterol free".

Map argued that the ad actually highlighted the fact that deep fried food was unhealthy, but that the product may be used in an attempt to make it less unhealthy.

Zee TV said they had been provided with the same documentation from Map's food technology consultant, which they believed substantiated the claim. They said they had withdrawn the ad once they had been informed of the complaint.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted the information from Map's nutritional consultant. We acknowledged that the sunflower, corn and vegetable oils featured in the ad did not contain dietary cholesterol. We understood, however, that the level of cholesterol in a person's blood was primarily affected by the amount of saturated fats that a person consumed, rather than by the amount of dietary cholesterol they consumed. We considered therefore that the emphasis on the fact that the oils contained "no cholesterol" could give a misleading impression of the relevant attributes of the products.

We understood that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommended that people should replace foods containing saturated fats with foods high in unsaturated fats, and we acknowledged that the sunflower, corn and vegetable oils featured in the ad were high in unsaturated fats. However, we also understood that the FSA recommended that people should aim to reduce the total amount of fat that they consumed by choosing healthier cooking methods, such as steaming, grilling or boiling, instead of frying or deep frying. We considered that the man's question "What is this Poori and Pakodas? We had decided to eat healthy food", along with the woman's response "That's why I'm using White Pearl Oil. Cholesterol free, worry free", implied not only that the oils themselves were healthy, but that any method of cooking that used those oils would be healthy as well. Because we understood from the FSA that regular consumption of fried and deep fried foods could increase a person's overall consumption of fat, we considered that the ad gave a misleading impression of the nutritional benefits of cooking with those oils as a whole. We therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.

The ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.1 and 5.2.2 (Claims) and 8.3.1(a) (Medicines, treatments, health claims and nutrition).

Action

The ad should not be broadcast again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)