FSA to issue guidance on charity endorsements
The Food Standards Agency has promised to produce new guidelines for the industry over the use of charity endorsements on food and drink packaging in the next six months.
The move is long overdue according to regulatory affairs experts, who have been calling for clarity over the use of charity logos on packaged goods since the EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation came into force.
Neville Craddock, a food law consultant and former regulatory affairs manager at Nestlé UK, said the industry had run into problems in the past over charity endorsements with advertising watchdogs. He added: “It’s still something of a grey area that the Regulation didn’t clear up; endorsements by national charities [although not individual health professionals] are allowed, but the rules about how they should apply are currently left up to the Member States - so national rules apply.”
He added: “Technically, under the Regulation, anything that states, suggests or implies that a product is beneficial to health amounts to a health claim, whether it’s via words or pictures, and must be supported by the evidence. So you could argue that a product with a charity’s logo on it was making an implied health claim.”
While charities might argue that a logo on a product did not necessarily constitute an endorsement, the average consumer could certainly be forgiven for assuming that this is exactly what it was, especially if the product was ‘healthy’, said Patrick Coppens, food law manager at Brussels-based consultancy EAS.
He added: “If you see the logo of a cancer charity on a product that is positioned as a functional food, it certainly implies that there is a connection between the two.”
While Macmillan Cancer Support is not technically endorsing the Hib! antioxidant-rich Hibiscus flower drink from the Hibiscus Drinks Company, the fact that the charity’s logo is included on packs of the product certainly “creates a connection” in the mind of consumers between Hib! and reducing the risk of cancer, accepted a spokeswoman for the brand.
While PR material sent out by Hibiscus Drinks Company promotes Hib! as a “rich source of anthocyanin antioxidants that can help slow the onset of some cancers”, no such claims were made on packs, she stressed. “We are not making any reference to cancer on packs. Macmillan’s logo is on pack because we donate 1p to the charity for every carton sold.”
A spokeswoman for Macmillan said: “This is not an endorsement of the product. We are just acknowledging that they are contributing money to our charity. We are not saying that this product helps reduce the risk of cancer, and we would not be happy with any references to cancer on packs.”
However, British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) nutrition scientist Joanne Lunn said the BNF was very careful to avoid being seen to endorse specific products, and would not approve of a manufacturer using its logo on pack. She added: “I expect that every organisation has its own rules on this, but as a charity it’s very important to maintain your independence.”
The National Consumer Council, which has expressed concerns about the proliferation of logos on food packaging, said it was not against the use of charity logos on packs. However, companies should make it clear exactly what the association with the charity was in order to avoid confusion, said a spokeswoman. “If the deal is simply that the company is donating a percentage of product sales to the charity, this should be made clear, so that consumers are not led to believe that the product will help their heart, or stop them getting cancer, for example.”
