ASA Adjudication on LAge Vert Ltd

Ad

An ad for a food supplement, which appeared in The Vegetarian magazine, stated "OMEGA 3, NO FISH. Why kill fish when you can find your Omega 3 PUFAs where the fish do: in micro algae! Scientists say that the body converts less than 20% of ALA (short-chain Omega 3, as found in linseed oil) into EPA and DHA. We need EPA to stay supple and DHA for a healthy brain. With Odontella aurita you get EPA and DHA in a whole plant form which has not been concentrated, extracted or messed with in any way … Each vegecap/tablet contains: 2.8mg of EPA, 0.2 mg of DHA Take the Odontella test: two weeks' supply for only £5 inc. P&P!".

Issue

The complainant, a doctor, challenged whether the ad misleadingly exaggerated the health benefits of the product, because he believed the amounts of EPA and DHA in the product were insignificant.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

L'Age Vert pointed out that the ad stated the amount of EPA and DHA contained in the tablets, 2.8 mg and 0.2 mg respectively and therefore disagreed that it was misleading.  They added that consumers could trial a two-week supply of the product for £5 to check that they were satisfied with it before committing to buy more.

Although L'Age Vert had only been selling Odontella in the UK for several months, they said they had sold the product in France for more than five years and had received positive feedback from customers.  They submitted a copy of a testimonial from one of their English customers in support.  

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA considered that the ad implied that Odontella aurita contained sufficient quantities of EPA and DHA to produce a beneficial effect.  We noted LAge Vert had not supplied robust scientific evidence to show that 2.8 mg of EPA and 0.2 mg of DHA was enough to produce such an effect and therefore concluded the ad could mislead by exaggerating the health benefits of the product.

On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 50.20 (Vitamins, minerals and other food supplements).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.  We advised L'Age Vert to contact the CAP Copy Advice team for guidance with future ads.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)