Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
An Instagram carousel post on the WhitworthsUK page for their 1DERS snack product, seen on 3 August 2025.
The first image in the carousel featured three packs of 1DERS in front of a supermarket store. Text stated “Getting more nutrition in your day is so simple, it feels like magic. Each powerful little pack of Whitworths 1DERS contains equivalent nutrition to 1 portion of your 5-a-day, with multipacks containing 5 individual bags. Perfect for those daily mid-morning slumps […] each little pack contains a powerful daily nutritional fix. Even scientists, dieticians and nutritionists agree that we should all be consuming nuts, seeds and dried fruit on a daily basis due to their immense nutrient power! So what are you waiting for? Grab your daily hit of Whitworths!”.
Three further posts in the carousel featured separate images of three packs of 1DERS: “Energising Nut Mix”, “Energising Fruit & Nut Mix” and a mixed box of “Brain Boosting Apricots and Immunity Boost Mangos”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the:
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ad misleadingly implied that all the products in the range contained one portion of a person’s 5-a-day; and
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claim “equivalent nutrition to 1 portion of your 5-a-day” was a comparative nutrition claim that breached the Code.
Response
1. Whitworths Ltd t/a WhitworthsUK said that the ad used the term “equivalent nutrition to 1 portion of your 5-a-day” which they believed would not be understood by consumers as a claim that Whitworths 1DERS could count towards one of their five-a-day consumption.
They stated that the products contained nuts, seeds and dried fruits and that one of the packs pictured in the ad consisted of dried apricots and dried mango pieces. They provided a report from April 2024, which they had commissioned, “Nuts, Seeds & Dried Fruits, Improving the Health of the Nation with Nature’s Nutrient Powerhouses”. They said it recommended that those ingredients, as nutrient dense wholefoods, should be consumed alongside an individual’s recommended 5-a-day fruit and vegetable intake. They added that the report also explained that 25g or 30g servings of nuts, seeds or dried fruits would provide a consumer with meaningful amounts of fibre and nutrients and that the ad, by using the term “equivalent nutrition” highlighted the nutritional content of a single pack of the product.
WhitworthsUK additionally provided information which compared the nutrients in 1DERs nut mix and 1DERS fruit and nut mix with a selection of cooked vegetables.
2. WhitworthsUK also said that the claim in the ad, that 1DERS “contains equivalent nutrition to 1 portion of your 5-a-day” was not a specific nutrition claim as there was no single nutrient referenced in the ad, nor did it suggest that 1DERS packs were high in, or a source of, any specific nutrient. They provided information that compared the nutritional content of the ingredients in a single pack of 1DERs with an 80g portion of commonly eaten vegetables, which they said showed that fruits, nuts and seeds could contain higher levels of vitamins, minerals and protein in those circumstances.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The text in the ad stated “Each powerful little pack of Whitworths 1DERS contains equivalent nutrition to 1 portion of your 5-a-day” and showed an image of three different packs. There was no further information on the contents of each pack or the portion sizes. Further text stated “each little pack contains a powerful daily nutritional fix” and “even scientists, dieticians and nutritionists agree we should all be consuming nuts, seeds and dried fruit on a daily basis due to their immense nutrient power”.
The ASA considered consumers were likely to understand from the claim “equivalent nutrition to one portion of your 5-a-day”, that one pack of Whitworths 1DERS would count towards the government’s recommended ‘five-a-day’ for fruits and vegetables. We understood that of the three packs pictured, one contained a portion of dried fruit equivalent to a five-a-day requirement (the mango and apricot pack), but the other two, which also contained nuts, did not. In the absence of qualifying text explaining that the claim was only applicable to that particular pack, we considered consumers would understand it to apply across the range of products, and that any pack of IDERS could therefore be substituted for a portion of fruit or vegetables as part of a person’s ‘5-a-day’.
We understood that government guidance recommended that consumers eat at least five portions of fruit or vegetables a day, and that the NHS defined a portion as approximately 80g of fruit or vegetables or a 30g portion of dried fruit. We therefore considered that only products which met those criteria could claim to be, or be equivalent to, a portion of fruit and vegetables. Whilst we acknowledged that nuts and seeds provided nutrients and fibre, nuts and seeds were not included within the guidance as counting towards a portion.
We had not seen evidence that all of the pack variants in the 1DERS range included a portion of fruit or vegetables as defined by the government guidance and therefore concluded that the ad was misleading.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), and 3.11 (Exaggeration).
2. Upheld
The CAP Code required that only nutrition claims authorised on the Great Britain Nutrition and Health Claims register (the GB NHC Register) were permitted in marketing communications. A nutrition claim was defined as any claim which stated, suggested or implied that a food or drink had particular beneficial nutritional properties due to the number of calories, nutrients or other substances it contained, did not contain, or contained in reduced or increased proportions.
We considered the claim “Each powerful little pack […]1DERS contains equivalent nutrition to 1 portion of your 5-a-day” suggested that each pack had the same amount of all types of nutrients as a portion of fruit or vegetables. However, there were no permitted comparative nutrition claims which related broadly to the overall nutritional content of a food; permitted comparative nutrition claims related to the specific nutritional properties of foods such as a specific vitamin or mineral, or fibre or protein content. Additionally, there was no permitted nutrition claim that a food had “the equivalent” or “the same” amount of a specific nutrient.
The claim “Each powerful little pack […]1DERS contains equivalent nutrition to 1 portion of your 5-a-day” was therefore not a permitted comparative nutrition claim. We therefore concluded that it breached the Code.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 15.1, and 15.1.1 (Food, food supplements and associated health or nutrition claims).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Whitworths Ltd t/a WhitworthsUK to ensure that future marketing communications did not make non-permitted comparative nutrition claims. We also told them to ensure that they did not state or imply that the 1DERS products could count towards the government’s recommended ‘five-a-day’ portions of fruit and vegetables if that was not the case.
