Healthy Skepticism Library item: 8979

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Australian watchdog squashes Ribena health claims
Agence France Presse 2007 Mar 21
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070321/hl_afp/australiaconsumerdrinkribena_070321120436

Full text:

SYDNEY (AFP) – The makers of Ribena have admitted advertising claims about the popular blackcurrant drink’s vitamin content “may have misled customers”, Australia’s consumer watchdog said Wednesday.

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) said GlaxoSmithKline Australia had “self-reported” discrepancies in claims about vitamin C levels in its Ribena Ready to Drink fruit beverage.

It said the the drink contained significantly less vitamin C than claimed on the nutritional information on its packaging and the implication it had four times the vitamin C of comparable orange juice products was incorrect.

The ACCC said GlaxoSmithKline Australia had agreed to stop making claims about the vitamin C content of the product that could not be backed by validated testing methods.

It also agreed to publish notices in retail outlets and on websites advising customers of the allegedly misleading claims, as well as publishing an article in an industry journal on the importance of accuracy when making claims to consumers.

“It is extremely important that companies use appropriate calculation methods when making claims about the contents of food or beverage products, especially when they relate to nutrition,” ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said.

New Zealand’s Commerce Commission launched court action against GlaxoSmithKline late last year over similar claims about Ribena’s vitamin content.

The company withdrew a drink called Ribena ToothKind in Britain in 2000 after claims that it did not encourage tooth decay were proved false.