The Advertising Standards Agency upheld a complaint on Sainsbury apple advert that misled customers28 March 2001
A complaint against a Sainsbury advert which implied its British fruit and vegetables were free of pesticides was upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The complaint to the ASA was submitted by a member of the public.
Friends of the Earth challenged Sainsbury about the misleading nature of its advert when it first appeared in national newspapers, including the Sunday Times, last October. The advert claimed that Sainsbury's prefers the use of natural pest controls such as ladybirds to chemical sprays. Friends of the Earth analysis of pesticide data published by the Government revealed that over half of the fruit and vegetables sold by Sainsbury (UK and imported) contained pesticide residues and UK-grown apples from Sainsbury were found to contain chlorpyrifos, a pesticide which has been severely restricted in the US due to concerns about its effects on children's health.
In upholding the complaint, the ASA ruled that the advert could be misleading to Sainsbury's customers "The image and headline implied that Sainsbury used natural farming methods on all their British fruit and vegetables. The Authority was concerned that that implication, coupled with the ambiguous claim, could mislead consumers". The ASA asked Sainsbury's to "amend the advert" and to ensure that they take advice from the Committee of Advertising Copy before launching any similar advertising campaigns.
Friends of the Earth wants supermarkets to work with farmers to reduce pesticide use and is also urging all supermarkets to ban the most dangerous pesticides including hormone disrupters. FOE also wants supermarkets to be honest with their customers and publish information about pesticides found in the food they sell.
Sandra Bell, Real Food Campaigner of Friends of the Earth said: "The ASA' s decision is a warning to all supermarkets not to make false claims about their food. We want to see all supermarkets working with farmers to produce pesticide-free food, but by pretending that it has already achieved this Sainsbury has been dishonest with their customers. If Sainsbury is so confident about getting pesticides out of its fruit and veg it should spend its money on telling its customers the results of its residue testing instead of on advertising campaigns to mislead them".
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