A supplement brand founded by former footballer Thomas Robson-Kanu has been cautioned by the ASA for republishing claims that implied its products could help to prevent, treat or cure human disease.
A page on The Turmeric Co’s website featured testimonials for its mixed box of turmeric juice shots in which selected words had been blurred. The blurred words were surrounded by references to being “cured”, “halved”, or “very much reduced”.
Meanwhile, text read: “Blurry here. Crystal clear on Trustpilot. Regulations mean we can’t show everything on this page, but you can read the lot over there.”
The brand said the testimonials were genuine consumer reviews from the website Trustpilot that it had included on its website to reflect customers’ experiences of using its products.
It said it was aware of restrictions in the CAP Code and had elected to blur the health claims and instead direct website users to Trustpilot, where the unedited third-party reviews appeared outside its control.
However, the ASA considered that the blurring did not remove the overall meaning of the testimonials. Consumers were “effectively invited to fill in the omitted wording from the context of each statement”, it said.
Although no specific health conditions or diseases were named in the ad, the testimonials were “likely to be understood as claims that the Turmeric Co’s food supplements could prevent, treat or cure human disease,” it concluded.
“Supplements are classed as foods and our rules make clear that ads can’t make claims that a food can prevent, treat or cure a human disease or condition,” an ASA spokesperson said. “This ruling shows that even if these claims are made in a testimonial, it can still break the rules.
“It’s important that people are able to trust claims made in ads for supplements, which is why we won’t hesitate to take action where we see irresponsible ads in this sector.”
The Turmeric Co accepted it was in breach of the code and said it had removed all testimonials of that referred to health conditions from its website.
“We have been engaging constructively with the ASA and removed the advertisement, which featured customer testimonials from Trustpilot, before this ruling,” Robson-Kanu told The Grocer.
The former Wales, West Bromwich Albion and Reading forward founded The Turmeric Co in 2018, after crediting turmeric shots for aiding his recovery from a career-threatening knee injury.
The brand’s products are stocked in retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Ocado.
No comments yet