The Advertising Standards Authority ruled yesterday that a Walkers crisps advertising campaign had made misleading claims about its salt content.
The Advertising Standards Authority ruled yesterday that a Walkers crisps advertising campaign had made misleading claims about its salt content.
According to the industry watchdog a promotional mailing saying Walkers had decreased the salt in its crisps to "7% of your guideline daily amount" was misleading considering the fact that the reduction did not apply to all Walkers crisps. They have instructed Walkers to ensure that future similar mailings clearly stated any Walkers-brand crisps excluded from the claim.The leaflets had been sent to households with a 25g packet of crisps as part of a promotion. They read: "We have reduced the salt in our crisps. We want you to enjoy every crisp, which is why we have made them better for you without changing the taste at all."
In addition the ASA criticised Walkers for excluding guideline daily amounts of salt for children under the age of 11 from the leaflet.
The ASA ruling was welcomed by Professor Graham MacGregor, the chairman of Consensus Action on Salt and Health, who had complained about the advertisements.
Walkers' general manager, Neil Campbell, said: "We reduced the saturated fat of Walkers crisps by 70 per cent and the salt content by 25 per cent earlier this year and felt that it was important to communicate these changes to enable people to make informed choices about our products."
ASA, however has found nothing wrong with a poster campaign, fronted by Gary Lineker, which claimed that a packet of ready salted crisps only contained as much salt as the average slice of white bread.
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