| Bulletin | 09/6 |
| Batch No. | 189 |
| Ref | 10449 |
| Product | Food & Beverages |
| Advertiser | Avonmore |
| Agency | Irish International |
| Medium | Radio |
| Complaint Advertisement: To the music of “Let the Sunshine”, the voice-over stated “We all enjoy a little sun - and it's not just to feel good - the Vitamin D we get from sunshine helps us absorb calcium - essential for good health. But as we don't get enough sun in Ireland, we don't get enough sunshine Vitamin D. Avonmore Super Milk is enriched with the Vitamin D, extra calcium and other key nutrients your family needs to grow healthy and strong. Switch to Avonmore Super Milk and let the sunshine in, every day” Complaint: The complainants objected to the claim that Irish people do not get enough sun-sourced vitamin D as they did not consider this to be factually correct. One complainant argued that the premise that Irish people needed to drink supplemented milk was without foundation. She also said that following some research of publicly available information and having consulted with her child’s paediatrician she considered the claims in the advertisement to be inaccurate. |
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| 2006 Code | |
| 2002 Code |
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| Response The advertisers addressed the complaints in two parts. 1. They said that it was now widely accepted by Ireland’s public health authorities and researchers that there was a wide spread Vitamin D deficiency amongst the Irish population. It was also accepted that this deficiency was indeed directly linked to Ireland’s northerly position, and the attendant lack of exposure to sun in Ireland. They referred to research conducted by Professor Kevin D Cashman et al, 2008, at University College Cork and University of Ulster, Coleraine, which stated; ‘the present study clearly shows that Vitamin D tissue stores, developed during summer months via exposure of skin to sunshine, were not sufficient to maintain adequate Vitamin D levels in most of the Irish population….’ They said that this perspective on the cause of the Irish population’s Vitamin D deficiency was now fully endorsed by the Irish public health authorities. They then said that the most detailed report on Vitamin D deficiency amongst the Irish population was the Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s (FSAI) 2007 report ‘Recommendations for a National Policy on Vitamin D Supplementation for infants in Ireland’ and it stated “Due to Ireland’s northerly latitude, very little UVB light reaches the earth’s surface resulting in reduced production of vitamin D, especially in winter. This fact, in conjunction with low dietary intakes, is compromising the vitamin D status of all groups of the population living in Ireland.” They said that the FSAI’s published advice on Vitamin D was adopted by the Department of Health as recently as June 2008 and that the Health Service Executive had started to recommend that all newborn babies receive supplementation of vitamin D. They said that they believed that the consensus amongst the FSAI, the Department of Health and the HSE, that Ireland’s vitamin D deficiency was indeed caused by a lack of sunshine, supported their recent Super Milk advertisement, which stated ‘But as we don’t get enough sun in Ireland, we don’t get enough sunshine Vitamin D.’ 2. In relation to the complaint that the advertisement contained a suggestion that because of Ireland’s vitamin D deficiency, there was a need for supplementation, they said that the advertisement very specifically did not make an assertion that “we need supplemented milk”. The advertisement stated ‘we don’t get enough vitamin D, due to Ireland’s lack of sunshine,’ and that Avonmore Super Milk ‘is a source of Vitamin D.’ They pointed out that the public health authorities mentioned above had identified a clear need for vitamin D supplementation, thereby providing strong evidence to dispel the complainant’s contention that this was not the case. In addition they said that fortified milks, such as Super Milk were recognised as one of the few key dietary sources of vitamin D. The HSE’s advice to parents on ‘Vitamin D Supplementation,’ states that Vitamin D was found in ‘very few foods, but sources include; oily fish, fish liver oils, fortified milks, fortified breakfast cereals, egg yolk and liver.’ On the issue of the need for supplementation, the FSAI report states; “Due to the lack of sunlight vitamin D production, there is heavy reliance on dietary intakes of vitamin D to ensure adequate vitamin D intakes and status ‘Indeed, other countries with latitudes similar to that of Ireland, e.g. Canada, have already identified and addressed the problem of vitamin D deficiency by putting in place supplementation and/or food fortification programmes.’ Based on the evidence provided they considered Avonmore Super Milk to be correctly advertised and that it did not mislead consumers in any way. |
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| Conclusion Complaints Not Upheld. The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. They considered that the health benefits in the advertisement were accurate and had been conveyed in a manner consistent with the advice from the Department of Health, the HSE and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. On that basis they did not consider any contravention of the Code was involved. Action Required: No further action required. |
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