19.01.2011, 18:57 4422

Coca-Cola's drink ad banned

An advertisement for Coca-Cola's Vitamin Water has been banned for claiming that the drink is "nutritious'' when it contains up to five teaspoons of sugar, a watchdog said, The Telegraph reported.

Almaty. January 19. Kazakhstan Today - An advertisement for Coca-Cola's Vitamin Water has been banned for claiming that the drink is "nutritious'' when it contains up to five teaspoons of sugar, a watchdog said, The Telegraph reported.

Three people complained that the poster for Vitamin Water was misleading for using the word "nutritious'' in the catchline, with one of them saying they believed each 500ml bottle contained more than 30g of sugar.

Coca-Cola said the product actually contained 23g of sugar per 500ml.

Defending the use of the word "nutritious'', Coca-Cola said the product contained "nutritionally meaningful quantities of several nutrients including 25 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of four B vitamins" and "100 per cent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C''.

All varieties of the product qualified for the category of "low-calorie'' drinks under European Union regulations.

Upholding the complaints, the Advertising Standards Authority said it thought consumers would understand the word "nutritious'' as a claim that Vitamin Water had added ingredients needed by the body in order to stay healthy.

But it added: "We considered that they would not expect a 'nutritious' drink to have the equivalent of four or five teaspoons of added sugar.

"Because Vitamin Water contained about a quarter of a consumer's guideline daily amount for sugar as well as the added vitamins, we considered that the description of Vitamin Water as 'nutritious' was misleading.''

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