Healthy Skepticism Library item: 9043

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

Ribena maker fined $217,500 over claims
New Zealand Press Association 2007 Mar 28
http://web.archive.org/web/20070331223825/http://nz.news.yahoo.com/070327/3/89e.html?f=mv

Full text:

Auckland schoolgirls Jenny Suo and Anna Devathasan are not feeling much sympathy for the makers of Ribena after exposing how they misled consumers about the drink’s Vitamin C content.

The Pakuranga College schoolgirls were told by Ribena’s makers GlaxoSmithKline in 2004 that their science experiment conducted when they were 14 which showed Ribena had less Vitamin C than they thought was wrong.

Two years after the experiment and an appearance on Fair Go, the company invited them to their premises once the Commerce Commission started investigating the drink’s Vitamin C content.

Instead of apologising, the invitation was “to say thank you for bringing it to their attention”, an approach the girls thought was way too late.

Yesterday, they saw the company try to get an Auckland District Court judge to limit its fine to $60,000 after admitting 15 breaches of the Fair Trading Act.

Judge Phil Gittos subsequently fined the company $217,500 and forced it to place corrective newspaper advertisements worth an estimated $96,000, though a school production called Aristophanes – The Frog kept the girls from seeing Judge Gittos hand down the company’s sentence.

GlaxoSmithKline admitted that there was no noticeable quantities of Vitamin C in its ready to drink Ribena, contrary to information on the cartons.

It also admitted that its claims that blackcurrants contained four times the amount of Vitamin C of oranges might mislead people into thinking Ribena itself when properly diluted had four times the Vitamin C of orange drinks, when the real proportion was about 1.5 times.

The Pakuranga College schoolgirls said they wished the company had received a stiffer penalty and been forced to screen corrective advertisements in television rather than newspapers.

Miss Suo, who said she wanted to study advertising at university next year, and Miss Devathasan said they would never drink Ribena and was disappointed at the company.

“When we started the experiment, we thought it had to have four times the amount of vitamin C (as orange drinks),” Miss Devathasan said.

“We didn’t think it was the blackcurrants that had it, we thought it was the Ribena that had it. I know a lot of people did that.

“After Fair Go we got letters about it saying `I’ve been feeding my daughter Ribena since she was seven because I thought it was healthy’.

“So when they say nobody’s going to be misled by it, we really don’t agree with it.”

Miss Suo said she was amazed the true nature of the Vitamin C in Ribena products had not been discovered beforehand.

“If we hadn’t found it they could have kept the same advertising up forever,” she said.

“It’s incredible to think you can have this sort of impact as a consumer and as a kid.”

Commerce Commission chairwoman Paula Rebstock had nothing but praise for the girls.

“They’re just fantastic,” she told Radio New Zealand. “I think they’re a true inspiration to everyone at the Commission and I hope to other consumers in New Zealand.”

The Commission had asked for corrective advertising on television but Ms Rebstock said the damage to the reputation of the company and its iconic drink was extremely high.

“The brand has been built up over many years over that point of difference and they’ve just lost all the value that they’ve invested in that brand for a decade,” she said.

“Consumers through the interest they’ve shown in this case are very concerned about misleading health claims.”

Ms Rebstock said the Commission found no evidence the public was knowingly misled by GlaxoSmithKline.

“But they were very careful in the way they worded for instance the TV adverts that said blackcurrants in Ribena had four times the vitamin C of oranges,” she said.

“They didn’t say the Ribena did, but that’s very careful wording, isn’t it. Most consumers would think that means this drink has.”

GlaxoSmithKline said in a statement that it had taken corrective measures in its advertising and in its ready to drink packaging.

“There was never any intention to mislead our customers, however to avoid any potential confusion, we quickly began removing the claim from our packaging and advertising across our entire Ribena range more than a year ago. These actions were completed last year,” it said.

“GlaxoSmithKline is pleased this court case is now complete so we can reassure our customers that any problems with the Ribena ready to drink products are historical and do not affect the remainder of the range.”

The Commission yesterday in court said GlaxoSmithKline, a health products and pharmaceuticals company, had worldwide turnover of $61 billion in 2005. Last year its sales of Ribena in New Zealand totalled $7.3 million.

“Many parents have been persuaded over many years that the product is healthy and good for children,” Commission lawyer Nick Flanagan told the court.

“But in fact the ready to drink Ribena is high in sugar, more in fact than Coca Cola.”