The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has criticised Mars and McVitie’s for implying that some of their products were low in calories.
Mars ran a advertisement for Maltesers that claimed the chocolates were “less than 11 calories each”, while McVitie’s said that Jaffa Cakes contained only “one gram of fat”.
Yet the ASA ruled that new European rules were broken, regulations that state low-calorie products are those with under 40 calories per 100g and also that low fat items are those with fewer than 3g of fat per 100g.
A second complaint against Mars was rejected by the watchdog – that the “lighter way to enjoy chocolate” reference was misleading – because it said that people probably knew it meant the texture of the confectionery and not nutritional content.
This week, the government has also revealed that more junk food adverts targeted at children are being used in the print media.
Asda was recently censured by the ASA for its price comparison ads.
