Food and Drink Index
9.1 Food Advertising and Public Policy
9.2 Legal Requirements: the Advertisers' Responsibility
9.3 Excessive Consumption
9.4 Comparisons and Good Dietary Practice
9.5 Oral Health
9.6 Flavours
9.7 Calorie Claims
9.8 Protein Claims
9.9 Vitamins and Minerals
9.10 Dietary Supplements
9.11 Restorative and Medicinal Claims
9.12 Ingredients
9.13 Additives
9.14 Genetically Modified Ingredients
9.15 Functional Foods
9.16 Organic Foods
9.17 Visuals of Food and Drink
9.18 Manufacturing Processes
9.19 Impressions of Country of Origin
9.20 Accurate Descriptions of Products
9.21 Nutritional and Health Claims
9.22 Energy Claims
9.23 Fats, Polyunsaturated  Fats and Cholesterol
9.24 Doctors in Food Advertisements
9.25 Children in Food Advertisements
9.26 Confectionery and Snacks

9.1 Food Advertising and Public Policy
Please refer to sections 7.2 and 8.3 of the Code: Food and Soft Drink Advertising and Children and Food and Dietary Supplements.

Advertisers should also have regard for Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on food and satisfy Clearcast that their advertisement claims comply with that Regulation

9.2 Legal Requirements: the Advertiser's Responsibility
It is the responsibility of advertisers and their agencies to satisfy themselves that their advertisements comply in all respects with relevant legislation. These Notes purport to do no more than alert users to some of the more common issues and should not be regarded as either comprehensive or authoritative.

The Food Safety Act 1990 makes it an offence falsely to describe any food or to mislead as to its nature, substance or quality, including its nutritional or dietary value. The Food Labelling Regulations give more detailed instructions on compliance with the general principle. Advertisers should refer to these.

Some of the more important areas of the Food Labelling Regulations are summarised below in section 9.6 et seq.

9.3 Excessive Consumption
It is very important to note rule 8.3.2 of the Code which prohibits encouraging or condoning excessive consumption of any food. Generally accepted nutritional advice will be the yardstick against which excessive consumption will be measured.

9.4 Comparisons and Good Dietary Practice
Rule 8.3.3 of the (B)CAP Code prohibits advertisements disparaging good dietary practice. Nor should they discourage the selection of foods such as fresh fruit or vegetables which it is recommended should form a greater part of the average diet.

9.5 Oral Health
See rule 8.3.4 of the Code but also note the section dealing with Confectionery and Snacks below.

For reasons of dental hygiene, advertisements must not suggest or imply that sweets can be eaten frequently throughout the day or at bedtime. Children, in particular, should not be encouraged to eat or drink shortly before going to bed and such scenes should be avoided.

9.6 Flavours
The name of a food can be used without qualification to indicate the flavour of another food only if the flavour derives wholly or mainly from that food: e.g. 'orange jelly' could only be used if the flavour derived from real oranges. If the flavour is not derived wholly or mainly from the food named, the word 'flavour' must immediately follow the name of the food, e.g. 'orange flavour jelly'.

Note that ‘flavoured’ would not be correct since this would suggest that the orange had produced the flavour.

Illustrations of real fruit or other sources of natural flavouring cannot be accepted in commercials for products whose flavouring is mainly or entirely synthetic.

9.7 Calorie Claims
Claims relating to a food’s reduced or low energy value are subject to detailed requirements by the 1996 Regulations. This issue is most likely to arise in a slimming context. Detailed guidance for slimming claims may be found in section 10.

9.8 Protein Claims
Claims that a food contains protein can normally be made only if at least 12g of protein are provided by consumption of a reasonable quantity of that food in a day. If the food is claimed to be a rich or excellent source of protein, then at least 20% of the energy value of the food must come from the protein. For other claims, the amount needs to be at least 12%.

9.9 Vitamins and Minerals
No claims for the presence of vitamins or minerals may be made unless both their nature and quantity comply with the detailed requirements of Schedule 5 Part II of the Food Labelling Regulations 1996.

For details of the rules governing television advertising of vitamin or mineral supplements, please refer to 8.9.10 of these Notes.

9.10 Dietary Supplements
For detailed rules on Dietary Supplements, please refer to Code rule 8.3.5.

9.11 Restorative and Medicinal Claims
The Labelling of Food Regulations prohibit such claims except in certain very specific circumstances and do not allow the advertising of any product in a way which implies that it has general tonic properties. Claims that a food has the property of preventing, curing or treating a human disease are not permitted nor is any reference to such a property.

9.12 Ingredients
Descriptions of a product's ingredients should reflect their relative importance in the product taken as a whole. Where the amount of an ingredient has been altered, the significance of the alteration should not be exaggerated. For example, a claim for “now half the fat” would not be permitted where the fat content of the product had been reduced from 0.2% to 0.1%. In nutritional comparisons, like must be compared with like.

9.13 Additives
While it is permissible to draw attention to the absence from a food of preservatives, colouring and the like, there should be no suggestion, either explicit or by implication, that additives are necessarily harmful, undesirable, or 'unnatural'.

9.14 Genetically Modified Ingredients
Genetic modification of Foods remains a controversial issue and advertising for such foods could breach rule 4(d) of the Code. Advertisers should be aware that legislative changes may be forthcoming so should remain alert to this possibility. In the event of this happening, guidance on this issue may have to be amended.

Meanwhile, no product which consists of or contains genetically modified ingredients should be described as natural or in any other way which suggests it is not so modified. Neither should comparative nutritional claims be made for the inclusion of GM ingredients.

9.15 Functional Foods
Some foods, commonly referred to as ‘functional foods’ may wish to claim a physiological effect e.g. lowering cholesterol effect etc. Such claims should be backed by clinical trials showing significant effect against the target group featured in the advertising.

9.16 Organic Foods
The United Kingdom Register of Organic Standards (UKROFS) is the designated competent authority that ensures that Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products is applied in the UK. This Regulation should be referred to.

Advertisers might also find it useful to refer to the CAP Help Note on Claims for Organic Foods (March 2003) in non-broadcast advertising when preparing TV advertising.

9.17 Visuals of Food and Drink
Visual representations of food (including food for animals), should accurately represent what the buyer will find in the purchased product. Such aspects as the size of portion, thickness of cut, chunkiness, etc. shown in the commercial should not be exaggerated or misleading in any way. The amount of filling and ingredients shown, for example in cross-sections of hamburgers, cakes, pies, confectionery, etc. should accurately reflect what the consumer will find in the average product.

Except in cases where the context of the commercial makes it quite clear that more than one pack of the product has been opened, visuals should feature only the amount which the consumer would find in one standard pack.

9.18 Manufacturing Processes
Most food advertised on television is factory-made by mass-production methods and consumers are generally aware of this. While a certain amount of creative licence is permissible, treatments which might lead viewers to suppose that mass-produced foodstuffs were actually made or prepared by hand, or by traditional small-scale methods, are not acceptable. Where there is some ambiguity about this, it can sometimes be resolved by clearly establishing that what is shown is the development of the initial recipe in the advertiser's research department rather than the actual preparation of the finished product.  are is particularly necessary in cases where there is nothing inherently implausible about the notion of the food in question being produced on a small scale or by traditional means, e.g. mass-produced cheese should not be shown being made in a small farmhouse dairy and battery-produced eggs should not be advertised in such a way as to imply that they are free-range.

9.19 Impressions of Country of Origin
Some categories of food are closely associated in the public’s mind with particular countries. In such cases, a product's perceived authenticity is likely to enhance its appeal. Advertisements may not therefore suggest that a product originates in a particular country or is generally available there, if this is not the case.

There is no requirement to indicate a product's country of manufacture in an advertisement, unless there is some risk of viewers otherwise being misled.

There is normally no objection to the use of foreign imagery to 'set the scene' in advertisements for foreign-style products originating and manufactured in the UK or a country other than the one implied. In such cases a clear statement of the product’s true origin is required if the creative treatment might lead viewers to suppose that the product itself, as distinct from the recipe or inspiration for it, is foreign.

9.20 Accurate Descriptions of Products
Descriptions such as 'fresh', 'natural', 'pure', 'home-made', etc. are acceptable only where they are appropriate and justifiable.

In particular, the adjective 'natural' without qualification is normally acceptable only to mean a raw, unmixed, unadulterated and unprocessed product without additions. There is normally no objection to the word 'natural' being used with an appropriate qualification to indicate a process or the use of an additive, e.g. 'natural lemon juice with preservative' or 'pasteurised natural lemon juice'.

Adjectives should not be used to suggest falsely that foods possess some special quality; for example, words like 'essential', 'precious' and 'vital' are inappropriate to describe an everyday product or commonplace ingredients.

Fruit juices which have been concentrated for ease of transportation and then reconstituted by the addition of water, may not be described as 'fresh' or advertised in such a way as to imply that they are unprocessed. Fruit juice which has been pasteurised in order to prolong its shelf-life should not be confused with 'freshly squeezed' juice which has not undergone this process.

Frozen foods should not be described as 'fresh' without qualification, such as 'fresh-frozen'. Synthetic or processed foods are not necessarily inferior to natural foods, and advertisements should avoid any unjustified implication to the contrary.

Particular caution is needed over words such as 'creamy', when used to describe the texture of products which contain no cream but might reasonably be supposed to do so. Unless it is abundantly clear that texture is being referred to, it will be necessary to include a disclaimer such as 'non-dairy product'. Detailed provisions exist in the Regulations regarding different types of cream.

Reference should be made as necessary to section 9.6 of these Notes on the issue of flavours.

9.21 Nutritional and Health Claims
Foods may be described as 'healthy' or 'nutritious' only if Clearcast's medical consultants are satisfied that they are demonstrably capable of playing a significant role in a well-balanced diet.

Terms such as 'goodness' need to be used with discretion, to avoid exaggerating a food's contribution to the diet. Most foods are wholesome and many are nutritious. However, the fact that a food product may be a good source of nutrients which, in isolation, are important or even essential for good health is not of itself a sufficient justification for promoting that product on a platform of general nutritional benefit. Claims in this area need to be assessed having regard to the likely dietary requirements of the UK population in general. The acceptability of claims about a product's nutritional benefits will be assessed on this basis, with the advice, where necessary, of Clearcast's medical and nutritional advisers.

It should be recognised that the issue of health and nutrition claims for foods is the subject of intense activity at European level and this activity will in due course produce guidance which will impact on food claims.

In some food products the presence of a nutrient for which a claim of nutritional benefit can be justified is offset by another, less desirable ingredient. In such cases, the acceptability of a positive nutritional claim for the product as a whole will depend on the extent to which the presence of the 'negative' ingredient detracts from the benefit offered by the 'positive' one. This will become an increasingly important concept if the Food Standards Agency progresses current plans to introduce nutritional profiling.

In certain circumstances it may be acceptable for a food product unable to claim in absolute terms to be 'healthy' or 'good for you', for example because of its fat content, to make a justifiable claim to be 'healthier' or 'better for you', because it contains significantly less of that ingredient than is commonly to be found in such foods, so that its substitution for them would produce a positive benefit.

9.22 Energy Claims
'Energy' in the technical sense, i.e. a food's calorific value, must not be confused with the colloquial meaning of the word, i.e. physical vigour. Advertisements may not suggest that food energy is a remedy for physical exhaustion, or that the body's reserves of food energy are rapidly depleted by everyday activities to the extent of needing 'replacement' by the consumption of a calorie-rich food or beverage.

It is unacceptable to suggest that any food or drink is capable of providing an instant boost of physical energy. In contexts where a drink is presented as refreshment after physical effort, the role of the product should not be ambiguous. There is some evidence that some products can either speed recovery from physical exhaustion or extend the time until that physical exhaustion sets in for groups trained to the extent they are performing close to a state of physical exhaustion. Claims in this area will have to be supported by good evidence and advertising targeted at the kind of viewer for whom the claimed benefit has been proven.

The capability of foods to provide sustenance should not be exaggerated, e.g. a breakfast cereal should not claim to do more than help keep a person going until lunch-time, or get people off to a good start.

9.23 Fats, Polyunsaturated Fats and Cholesterol
Although fat is essential to well-being, available evidence suggests that the majority of British adults would be well advised to reduce the amount of fat in their diets. Of the fat they do consume, a higher proportion ought to be polyunsaturated and monounsaturated. Claims to having relatively lower fat levels than the norm may be appropriate but it is important to avoid exaggerating the benefits on offer. Similarly, any claimed benefit for the presence of mono or polyunsaturated fatty acids must have regard for both the need to reduce total fats and the Food Labelling Regulations prohibition against claims to treat or prevent human disease. Again, benefits of polyunsaturates and monounsaturates should not be exaggerated and should be supported by sound data.

The Food Labelling Regulations dictate circumstances for claims relating to the presence or absence of cholesterol in a food. Where the claim is of low or reduced levels of cholesterol the food must contain no more than 0.005% cholesterol. The claim must not be accompanied by a suggestion, whether express or implied, that the food is beneficial to human health because of its level of cholesterol. Any other cholesterol claims will have to comply with the conditions set out in the Regulations.

9.24 Doctors in Food Advertisements
Doctors and other health professionals should not be featured in a way which would associate them with health, energy, slimming or nutritional claims.

9.25 Children in Food Advertisements
Children have an interest in most kinds of food and frequently appear in food commercials, but they may not be used to make nutritional claims, deliver a sales message, or otherwise comment on aspects of food which could not reasonably be expected to be of interest to them.

9.26 Confectionery and Snacks
Advertisements for confectionery, snacks or similar products must not actively encourage or condone excessive consumption or unhealthy eating habits.

For reasons of dental hygiene, advertisements must not suggest or imply that sweets or snacks may be eaten frequently throughout the day or at bed-time. Children, in particular, should not be encouraged to eat or drink shortly before going to bed or having ”midnight feasts” and such scenes should be avoided.