The Advertising Standards Association (ASA) has ruled out a complaint by the Salt Manufacturers Association (SMA) regarding the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) recent salt awareness campaign.
The campaign, which features Sid the Slug, was criticised by the SMA based on the fact that salt kills slugs and the assertion was it will also kill humans.
After considering the complaint the ASA Council noted that: “the intention of the poster was to raise awareness about the danger of high salt consumption, not all salt consumption.”
The ASA also determined that the character of Sid the Slug is: “likely to be understood as a humorous, alliterative device.”
Neil Martin, director of communications at the FSA said: “We are pleased that the ASA has decided that our new advertising campaign is unlikely to upset or mislead the British public. Sid the Slug was chosen to front the campaign as an amusing way to alert people to a very serious health message - eating too much salt increased the risk of high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease and a stroke.”
The Scientific Advisory Committee of Nutrition (SACN) has set a UK target to reduce the consumption of salt to a maximum of 6 grams a day, after it was discovered that over one third of British adults have high blood pressure and two thirds of these are not receiving any treatment.
The campaign, which features Sid the Slug, was criticised by the SMA based on the fact that salt kills slugs and the assertion was it will also kill humans.
After considering the complaint the ASA Council noted that: “the intention of the poster was to raise awareness about the danger of high salt consumption, not all salt consumption.”
The ASA also determined that the character of Sid the Slug is: “likely to be understood as a humorous, alliterative device.”
Neil Martin, director of communications at the FSA said: “We are pleased that the ASA has decided that our new advertising campaign is unlikely to upset or mislead the British public. Sid the Slug was chosen to front the campaign as an amusing way to alert people to a very serious health message - eating too much salt increased the risk of high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease and a stroke.”
The Scientific Advisory Committee of Nutrition (SACN) has set a UK target to reduce the consumption of salt to a maximum of 6 grams a day, after it was discovered that over one third of British adults have high blood pressure and two thirds of these are not receiving any treatment.
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