Watchdog rap for county dairy giant

Shropshire-based dairy company Muller was not entitled to claim that a range of children's jellies, fromage frais and yoghurts contained "100 per cent natural ingredients", the advertising watchdog ruled today.

Rival firm Yoplait complained about television and press adverts which described Muller's Little Stars line of products as "a helping hand from Mother Nature". It argued the claim of "100 per cent natural ingredients" was inaccurate.

It said the range included juice from concentrate, gelatine, corn starch, colour additives and inulin.

Muller, which has its headquarters in Market Drayton, denied misleading consumers and said it had sought to use only natural ingredients in the Little Stars branded line.

It said an average consumer would understand from the packaging that the products were manufactured foods and that some processing of the ingredients would have taken place.

It said the "helping hand from Mother Nature" claim was hyperbole and that it indicated something short of completely natural.

The Advertising Standards Authority upheld two complaints, finding that consumers were unlikely to consider the juice from concentrate, refined gelatine and inulin in Little Stars as "100 per cent natural".

Its ruling said: "We acknowledged Muller's argument that their claim '100 per cent natural ingredients' was intended to refer to the fact that, in their view, all the ingredients in Little Stars were 'natural'.

"We nevertheless considered the '100 per cent' claim was likely to strengthen the 'natural' claim in consumer understanding, and would also be likely to suggest each ingredient was '100 per cent natural'."

It concluded that the "helping hand from Mother Nature" assertion was "a strong claim which implied that the ingredients were less processed and closer to nature than they were".

The ASA said the TV and print ads for Little Stars must not be shown again in their current form.

By Deborah Collins