ASA Adjudication on Kraft Foods UK Limited

Ad

An Internet ad, for Dairylea Lunchables, showed various sandwiches and featured the text "PACKED WITH GOOD STUFF".

Issue

Three complainants, who believed the products in the range contained high levels of salt and saturated fat, challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that Dairylea Lunchables (Lunchables) were healthier than they were.

CAP Code

Response

Kraft Foods UK (Kraft) explained that Lunchables had recently been reformulated to contain no artificial colours or flavours and 34% less saturated fat and 9% less salt, than the previous range.  Kraft said the Food Standards Agency (FSA) had communicated recognition of that action by letter in February and sent the ASA a copy in support.  

Kraft believed the claim "packed with good stuff" was justified and explained that it was intended to highlight the nutritional enhancements made to the range.  They listed what they believed constituted the "good stuff": calcium, an essential nutrient for healthy bones and teeth; vitamin D, an aid to the absorption of calcium; wholegrain and protein. Kraft added that each pack of Lunchables provided at least one third of the daily calcium needs of a child up to the age of ten years and at least 8 g of wholegrain.  They said Lunchables were marketed as an occasional fun and tasty treat and were a nutritionally comparable alternative to a home-made sandwich.  They submitted a table showing the nutritional breakdown of each product in the range against home-made ham and cheese and chicken and cheese sandwiches.

Kraft said the ad targeted an adult audience and believed it gave a balanced and accurate view of the range.  They pointed out that Lunchables were not described as low fat, low salt or natural.   Kraft explained that they had chosen to communicate the changes to the composition of Lunchables via the Internet because it allowed them to include links, in the form of click-through pages, to detailed information about the product range.  They said the links included information on how Lunchables, together with fruit or vegetables, could constitute part of a healthy and balanced diet, a review of one of the products by an independent nutritionist/dietician and a link to a site that provided a full nutritional breakdown per 100 g and per serving (129 g) for one of the products.  Kraft added that the latter link included a Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) calculator so that readers could determine what a serving of Lunchables contributed to their GDA of key nutrients, according to their age and sex.

Kraft disagreed that the ad breached the Code and said they believed the claim "packed with good stuff" was a substantiated statement of fact.  They said the ad was no longer appearing and they had no plans to re-use it.  Kraft added that they had not received any other complaints about the ad.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted Kraft had no plans to use the ad again and considered the evidence they submitted.  We acknowledged that Kraft had altered the composition of the products in the Lunchables range to reduce the amount of salt and saturated fat they contained.  

We understood that children aged between four and six years should eat no more than 1.2 grams, children aged between seven and ten years should eat no more than two grams and children aged 11 and over should eat no more than 2.5 grams of sodium per day; eating less than the recommended daily maximum was always preferable.  We further understood that 0.5 grams or more of sodium per 100 grams of food equalled high sodium content and five grams or more of saturates per 100 grams constituted high levels of saturated fat.

We noted from the nutritional breakdown table supplied by Kraft that the products in the Lunchables range contained an average of 0.6 g of sodium per 100 g and also an average of 0.6 g of sodium per serving, which was half of the GDA for children aged between four and six years.  All of the products contained 0.5 g of sodium or more, whether measured per 100 g or per serving.  We also noted, of the six products in the Lunchables range, two products contained more than five grams of saturates per 100 g and were therefore high in saturated fat, and three contained more than five grams of saturates per serving, whereas no product could be classed as low in saturated fat - 1.5 g saturates or less per 100 g.

We noted Kraft did not claim in their ad that the products in the Lunchables range were low in salt, low in fat or natural; we also noted the products contained calcium, Vitamin D, wholegrain and protein and Kraft had included links from the ad to Internet pages that gave nutritional advice.  We nevertheless considered that the claim "packed with good stuff" implied that Lunchables contained a high proportion of nutrients that were beneficial to health, when we understood that they contained high levels of saturated fat and sodium.  We therefore concluded that the claim "packed with good stuff" was misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).  

Action

We told Kraft not to repeat the claim in future advertising for Lunchables and advised them to contact the CAP Copy Advice team for guidance with future ads.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)