The ASA said it received two complaints claiming that the small quantity of almonds in Alpro’s product should preclude it from being called ‘almond milk’: One referred to its YouTube advertisement and the other referred to a poster advertisement in which the text said ‘how do you milk an almond?’.
The ASA said it acknowledged that the complainants believed the product should contain more than 2% almonds – about 20 individual almonds per litre – to be called almond milk.
However, it added: “We considered that, whilst consumers might not be aware of exactly how almond milk was produced, they were likely to realise that almonds could not be 'milked' and that the production of almond milk would necessarily involve combining almonds with a suitable proportion of liquid to produce a 'milky' consistency.
“Because we accepted that such products were commonly known as 'almond milk' and that the almond content contributed to both the product's flavour and consistency, we considered it was not misleading for the ads to include imagery of almonds and milky liquids.”
Alpro said that it had used the advertisements widely across the UK throughout 2012 and had not received any other consumer complaints about being misled. The company also argued that ‘almond milk’ was a common way to describe the product and the two leading branded varieties in the UK both contained about 2% almonds.
According to the company, the product is made by processing almonds into a creamy paste, which is then blended with water and other ingredients and nutrients. No additional flavourings were added to the product, it said.
“We concluded that that the ads were unlikely to mislead consumers,” the ASA said in its ruling.
In 1998, the EC adopted a list of vegetable-based products that could be labelled as 'milk', such as coconut milk or almond milk. Soy was not accepted.