Nutricia rapped over health claims

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 | By Russell Parsons

The Advertising Standards Authority has rapped baby food and formula manufacturer Nutricia after finding two separate brand campaigns made misleading health claims.

The watchdog banned advertisements for its Cow & Gate and Aptamil follow-on milk brands after finding both made unsubstantiated claims.

The ASA ruled that a claim made in the Cow & Gate print ads that it supported a baby’s “natural immune system” was misleading and could not be substantiated.

It added that the ads implied the milk would support all children’s natural immune systems and ruled that a study produced by Nutricia did not prove the claim.

Separately, the ASA ruled that a print ad for Aptamil milk misled consumers over claims of superiority and about its ability to support a baby’s immune system.

The ad claimed that the milk’s “unique formulation helps to support your baby’s natural immune system, making it the best follow milk”.

The ASA rejected Nutricia’s argument that its “best” claim was a comparison with other follow-on milks in the UK.

It also said evidence produced to support claims that the milk’s “unique formulation” helped support a baby’s immune system was not strong enough.

The Cow & Gate ad must not run again in its current form while the ASA said the Aptamil ad must not make the same claims unless it “held robust evidence to support them”.

Both ads were created by Ogilvy.