Zero calorie pasta? No, actually it has seven calories, says UK advertising watchdog

01-Aug-2013 - Last updated on 01-Aug-2013 at 10:24 GMT

Seven calories is not energy-free under EU regulations - but four calories is a different matter...

The UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has ruled that Slim Pasta maker NAH Foods Ltd cannot claim that the product contains zero calories – even if the claim is followed by a question mark.

A magazine advertisement for Slim Pasta was headed with "Zero Calorie Pasta? UK & Ireland's No.1 Best Selling Zero Calorie Pasta, Noodles & Rice". The ad also claimed that the product had “100% less calories than wheat pasta”. However, the product contains 7.7 calories per 100 g.

The company defended its advertising by pointing out that its claim “zero calorie pasta?” contained a question mark, and argued that it had not claimed “zero calorie pasta”.

“We considered that consumers would infer that the advertiser was selling zero calorie pasta,” the ASA said in its ruling, which also said that the ad should not appear again in its current form.

Under European regulation, a food can claim to be energy-free if it contains no more than 4 calories per 100 ml. To make a low-energy claim, a food must contain no more than 40 calories per 100 g for solids, or no more than 20 calories per 100 ml for liquids.

The ASA said consumers were likely to judge the zero-calorie claim to mean ‘energy-free’, and therefore ruled that the company was in breach of regulations.

“We told NAH Foods Ltd not to make nutrition claims unless they could demonstrate that they had complied with the associated conditions of use,” the ASA said.