Nestle and General Mills joint venture, Cereal Partners Australia (CPA), has paid the price for placing misleading protein content claims on its Uncle Toby's Oats.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), said that CPA made false or misleading representations that the oats in these Uncle Toby's products contained a significant amount of protein.
The packaging of Uncle Tobys ‘Quick Sachets’ oats said: ‘Natural Source of Protein* Superfood’, and the packaging of Uncle Tobys ‘Traditional Oats’ contained the statement ‘Naturally Rich in Protein* Superfood’.
In both cases, the packaging also contained the disclaimer “*when prepared with [1/2 or 2/3] cup of skim milk”, which appeared in fine print below the misleading statements.
These representations were also made in a television commercial promoting Uncle Tobys oats products, which contained a similar fine print disclaimer.
According to the ACCC, this amounted to making misleading representations that the oats in these Uncle Tobys products contained a significant amount of protein, when this was not the case.
The ACCC said the disclaimers were insufficient to correct the dominant impression created by these statements and their presentation.
“Consumers should be able to purchase food products based on accurate health and composition claims. While the ACCC acknowledges that oats have many health benefits, on their own they are not high in protein, contrary to the representations made about these Uncle Tobys products,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.
“Business should be aware that a fine print disclaimer is insufficient to correct or qualify a prominent representation on packaging or in advertising that is false or misleading.
“Truth in advertising, particularly where misleading claims are made by large businesses, is a priority enforcement area for the ACCC,” Sims said.
Last week, the ACCC announced that Arnotts's Biscuits had paid $51,000 in penalties relating to the saturated fat claims it had been using on its Shapes Light & Crispy products.
The “75% less saturated fat” representation displayed on its packs compared Shapes not to original Shapes but to potato chips cooked in palm oil, according to a fine print disclaimer at the bottom of the packs.
