Kraft Heinz Co. has changed online advertising in the UK for its Biscotti brand after a complaint from pressure group The Children's Food Campaign.
Three ads were challenged over the use by local unit HJ Heinz of the phrase "healthy snack". In the complaint, The Children's Food Campaign asked whether the phrase encouraged " excessive consumption of a food, poor nutritional habits or an unhealthy lifestyle in children, and damaging oral healthcare practices in children", the UK's Advertising Standards Authority said.
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The watchdog itself challenged whether the claim the Biscotti lines were a "healthy snack" was a general health claim that needed backing from authorised claims by law.
The ASA said Kraft Heinz agreed to remove from its ads references to the products being healthy snacks or snacks from its advertising and to remove or to amend health claims in line with the watchdog's previous rulings.
A spokesperson for HJ Heinz said: "Heinz takes its responsibilities as an advertiser very seriously. As soon as we were made aware that certain elements of our website copy may not have met the high standards we demand, we took immediate action to make changes. The matter was resolved to the satisfaction of the ASA."
Nevertheless, The Children's Food Campaign said the changes to the ads are "merely cosmetic".
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By GlobalDataMalcolm Clark, co-ordinator of The Children's Food Campaign, said: "They are now simply using different wording to imply it is okay to give the sugary biscotti to babies in-between meals. It is unclear whether the wording is even going to be changed on the packaging itself. Moreover, Heinz has announced no measures to reduce the actual sugar content in their biscotti.
"This case reveals the limits of existing advertising rules, the relative powerlessness of the regulator, and the impunity of Heinz to continue spending millions promoting sugary baby foods. That may be a satisfactory resolution for the ASA, but it is not for us, or the many health professionals, early years specialists and parents’ groups who support our campaign."
