Image: lex-karelly
Products nominated include Bad Ischler pasta salt, vanilla ice cream from Cremissimo, Heinz tomato ketchup, More Nutrition 2 calorie oil spray and the San Lucar mango passion fruit smoothie.
The winner will be awarded a certificate in mid-December, which foodwatch will hand over to the relevant company, one said. It was emphasized that excessive prices, fraudulent labeling and misleading advertising promises made shopping more difficult for consumers. Although EU food law and Austrian food law state that neither advertising nor the presentation of products may mislead buyers. “The reality is different,” said foodwatch.
5 products selected
According to the NGO, five products were selected for the “Advertising Infamy of the Year” from the ongoing awards in recent months that are examples of “annoying marketing practices.”
Foodwatch criticized, among other things, the fact that Bad Ischl pasta salt in drop form is only commercially available table salt, which has only been pressed into portionable drops at a “salted price”. Most known Cremissimo ice cream criticized the NGO: “The actual ice cream mass only makes up half of the pack. The other half is air.” This is particularly annoying when it comes to “Austria’s most popular ice cream”.
Heinz tomato ketchup On the other hand, I lure environmentally conscious consumers with the message “100% Recyclable Bottle”. The reality, however, is that it is just normal tomato ketchup in a plastic bottle. “It’s recyclable – like many other ketchup bottles.”
More Nutrition 2 Calorie Oil Spray However, it has just as many calories as any other rapeseed oil. “With the “2 calorie oil spray” you can supposedly save calories – that’s how More Nutrition advertises the refined rapeseed oil in the spray bottle.” In fact, the “2 calorie oil spray” contains just as many calories as conventional rapeseed oil from the supermarket. “The trick: You can only get the two calories if you follow the manufacturer’s instructions exactly. Spray for a quarter of a second.” More Nutrition charges an impressive 30 euros per liter.
The San Lucar Smoothie Mango Passion Fruit – instead contains mainly apple instead of the promised mangoes and passion fruits. “Only a look at the small print list of ingredients reveals what’s really in it: almost 70 percent apple in the form of apple juice made from apple juice concentrate and apple puree, plus some mango puree and a dash of passion fruit juice.” There is no reference to the apples either in the picture on the front or in the product name.
The independent, donation-financed NGO Foodwatch says it uncovers grievances surrounding the marketing of food and confronts companies with corresponding points of criticism.
arouse distrust
Advertising follows us all day long: most products today are touted as particularly sustainable and healthy, especially food. When shopping, however, very few people invest the time to take a closer look at the goods. Then the consumer would discover, for example, that a supposed mango smoothie consists of almost 70 percent apple (juice), as Foodwatch found out.
Even if it is clear to everyone that advertising cannot be taken at face value, it is important to expose the industry’s tricks with concrete examples. Only in this way will consumers become more suspicious and hopefully immune to some advertising insults.
Responsible customers
What the “Golden Raspberry” (for the worst film) is in Hollywood, the “advertising insult of the year” is in the domestic food industry: a prize that no one wants.
The motive of Foodwatch must be respected: uncovering grievances. It is questionable whether this requires the price of a non-governmental organization.
You can supposedly save calories with the “2 calorie oil spray” – this is how More Nutrition advertises its rapeseed oil: Most buyers know that some advertising promises are bogus when they see a product. The same applies to goods where manufacturers do not change the packaging or price, but cheat on the contents. Customers are responsible – the most efficient way is to send an email to the manufacturer. Or a product change.
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