ASA Non-broadcast Adjudication: HJ Heinz Company Ltd

Complaint

The Food Commission (UK) Ltd and members of the public objected to three advertisements for canned food.

a. One advertisement appeared as a poster and a magazine advertisement and featured a can of tomato soup with tomatoes protruding from each end of the can. The advertisement was headlined "5-A-DAY THE HEINZ WAY" and continued "Heinz Tomato Soup is so full of tomatoes that it contributes towards your recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy, balanced diet ...".

b. Another advertisement appeared as a magazine advertisement and featured a can of baked beans in tomato sauce with beans and tomatoes protruding from each end of the can. The advertisement was headlined "5-A-DAY THE HEINZ WAY" and continued "Heinz Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce, made with select beans and ripe tomatoes, contributes towards your recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy, balanced diet ...".

c. A third advertisement appeared as a magazine advertisement and featured a can of spaghetti in tomato sauce with wheat and tomatoes protruding from each end of the can. The advertisement was headlined "5-A-DAY THE HEINZ WAY" and continued "Heinz Spaghetti in Tomato Sauce, made with fresh long cut pasta and ripe tomatoes, contributes towards your recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy, balanced diet ...".

An image in the bottom right-hand corner of all the advertisements showed five red segments making up a circle. Two of the segments in advertisement (a) and one of the segments in advertisements (b) and (c) were shaded white and the words "5-A-DAY" appeared underneath. The complainants challenged whether:

1. the advertisements misleadingly implied that the fruit and vegetables in the advertised products were healthy and equivalent to fresh fruit and vegetables, because they believed the products contained relatively high levels of added sugar, fat and salt that could be detrimental to health and

2. the claim "contributes towards your recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables" misleadingly implied that official dietary recommendations included composite foods such as the advertised products.

3. The Food Commission (UK) Ltd challenged the implication in advertisement (a) that Heinz Tomato Soup counted as two portions of the recommended daily five portions of fruit and vegetables.

CAP Code

Adjudication

The advertisers said their 5-a-day initiative was based on a World Health Organization (WHO) report on Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases; the report recommended the consumption of at least 400 g of fruit and vegetables a day. They pointed out that the UK public had been advised by Government agencies and leading professional bodies to eat at least five 80 g portions of fruit and vegetables each day. The advertisers explained that their campaign was developed in collaboration with the British Dietetic Association (BDA) after several months of consumer research. They pointed out that they had submitted advertisements to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Copy Advice team and that they had been advised that the advertisements were unlikely to mislead.

1. Complaints not upheld

The advertisers asserted that the advertised products were not unhealthy and contributed towards the recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy, balanced diet. They argued that the healthy eating message was not only about fresh fruit and vegetables and said the Food Standards Agency, the Department of Health and the BDA, among others, stated that frozen, canned, juiced, dried and fresh fruit and vegetables counted as portions. The advertisers argued that the advertisements highlighted that the products contained quantities of tomatoes and beans in a serving that qualified as a portion of the five-a-day target. The advertisers said the fact that the nutritional values of fresh and cooked foods could differ was recognised. They pointed out that many foods, such as beans, needed to be cooked for digestion and maintained that the antioxidant lycopene, found in tomatoes, was more bioavailable after cooking. The advertisers argued that the advertised products were not high in fat or sugar. They said a small amount of salt was added to the products to achieve an acceptable taste for consumers. The advertisers said they recognised that high salt diets could harm health and asserted that they had a long-standing commitment to reducing the level of salt in their products in line with changing consumer tastes. They asserted that the basic principle of nutrition was that there were no good or bad foods and that only good or bad diets existed. The Authority noted the advertised products contained added sugar and added salt and only the tomato soup contained added fat. It also noted the levels of added sugar and added fat in each product were well within the daily intake guideline levels but the level of salt in a portion of each of the three products varied according to the product and represented between 35% and 51% of the recommended maximum intake for a woman and between 26% and 36% for a man. The Authority considered that consumers would understand the fruit and vegetables in the advertised products had been processed, contained ingredients not present in fresh fruit and vegetables and were not equivalent to fresh fruit and vegetables in every respect. It also considered that, in the context of the five-a-day message, to suggest that the advertised products were equivalent to fresh fruit and vegetables was acceptable. The Authority acknowledged that the advertisements encouraged the consumption of the advertised products as part of a healthy, balanced diet. It also acknowledged the relatively high salt content of the advertised products but considered that readers would understand their consumption should form only part of a varied and healthy, balanced diet. Because the advertisements referred to a healthy, balanced diet and, because they did not encourage excessive consumption of the advertised products, the Authority did not object on that point.

2. Complaints not upheld

The advertisers argued that no scientific evidence suggested that fruit and vegetables used to make recipe dishes could not count towards five-a-day. They maintained that to exclude them was contrary to the inclusion of cooked fruit and vegetables in the Department of Health''s existing guidelines. The advertisers listed several examples of official guidance that endorsed the use of cooked and composite foods to increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables. They pointed out that no official guidance stated that composite foods could not have an important role as part of a healthy balanced diet. The Authority noted that existing guidance, from the Department of Health, about foods that contributed towards five-a-day included canned and processed foods such as the advertised products, as long as they were eaten in moderation if high in added fat, salt and sugar. Because the advertisements referred to a healthy, balanced diet and, because they did not encourage excessive consumption of the advertised products, the Authority did not, therefore, object on that point.

3. Complaint upheld

The advertisers said their products could form part of a healthy, balanced diet and pointed out that all their information stated the importance of balance. They said they understood that discussions about how portions should be applied to tomato puree had been held because of the potential to compromise variety in the diet. The advertisers sent calculations that confirmed the reconstituted fruit and vegetable content of their tomato soup equated to at least two portions of fruit and vegetables. They said they had nevertheless agreed with the BDA that no serving would count as more than two fruit and vegetable portions even if that serving contained more than 160 g of fruit and vegetables. They asserted that no official guidance existed that stated that tomatoes should count only once. The Authority noted that, when the advertisement appeared, no official guidance stated that tomatoes should count only once. It also noted that, under new Department of Health guidelines, tomato puree could count only once per day, even if more than one portion was consumed. The Authority understood that variety was a key aspect of the five-a-day message. It considered that the advertisement implied that a can of Heinz tomato soup counted as two portions of the recommended daily five portions of fruit and vegetables. The Authority considered that, despite the increased bioavailability of lycopene in processed tomatoes, to suggest that the advertised soup counted towards more than one portion of the recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables exaggerated the contribution of the advertised product as part of a healthy, balanced diet. The Authority told the advertisers to avoid the implication in future that similar products counted as more than one portion of the five recommended.