Food & Drink update – July 2018


ASA ruling on the use of price promotions
In November 2017 a well known supermarket ran a price promotion for Haagen-Dazs ice cream. […]
In November 2017 a well known supermarket ran a price promotion for Haagen-Dazs ice cream. The text of the promotion on their website stated “Only £3.00: Save £1.00”. The advertisement was challenged on the basis that it was misleading because the reduction didn’t represent a genuine saving.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld the complaint. The ASA looked at the pricing history for the product and found that the price of the ice cream had fluctuated between a ‘base price’ of £4.00 and a ‘promo price’ of £3.00 every 21 days. Because the difference in price followed a cyclical pattern, the lower promotion price couldn’t be said to be a genuine saving against a usual selling price. Therefore the savings claim was deemed to be misleading and the supermarket was ordered to ensure that any future savings claims did not misleadingly imply savings against the usual selling price of the product.
WM Comment
This finding will have a big impact on food retail pricing practices. It is common practice for the major supermarkets to run promotions on a regular basis. It could be said that many food products do not have a usual selling price so claims of savings are now looking at risk of challenge.

The impact of a proposed ban on single-use plastic in the food and drink sector
The UK government announced earlier this year that it is considering legislation banning the sale […]
The UK government announced earlier this year that it is considering legislation banning the sale of single-use plastics in the UK, if alternatives are viable and affordable, amid concerns that their use is causing serious environmental problems.
As the name suggests, single-use plastics are plastic items that are used only once. They are heavily used in the food and drink industry because of the industry’s reliance on packaging and convenience items. Single-use plastic includes things like coffee stirrers, plastic cutlery and plates, water bottles, plastic straws, ready-meal packaging and plastic bags.
The UK produces roughly 300 million tonnes of plastic each year of which half is single-use. The nature of the plastic makes it difficult to recycle and so much of it ends up in landfill or in our water systems where it degrades into tiny particles. Environmentalists claim that plastic particles are appearing in our food chain and the water that we drink.
It is therefore not surprising that there is increasing focus on the damage that single-use plastics are causing to the environment and a realisation that something needs to be done about it. Businesses operating in the food and drink sector will need to evolve to keep in line with public opinion and make changes to how food and drink is packaged. There is already a ‘plastic free’ trust mark initiative which awards the trust mark to products that are packaged without plastic thus allowing consumers to make buying choices based on environmental standards. Food business operators may find that consumers vote with their feet if they believe that a business is not doing enough to reduce their use of plastic.
On top of consumer choice, the threat of new legislation is very real. If single-use plastic is to be banned, manufacturers will need to produce environmentally friendly alternatives to the plastic cutlery and straws that are currently so wide-spread. Food businesses need to start looking now at their use of plastics and come up with alternatives that are not so damaging to the environment.
WM Comment
The food and drink sector would be well advised to start tackling the problem of single-use plastic now rather than wait for new legislation to be introduced. We will keep you updated regarding any changes that are proposed.

New food labelling regulations adopted in the European Union
New food labelling rules have been adopted which are intended to ensure that the origin […]
New food labelling rules have been adopted which are intended to ensure that the origin of the primary ingredient in food can be clearly identified. The new rules aim to promote a high level of transparency, providing consumers with clear information about the origin of food sold in the EU.
Food producers will have to give clear information about the origin of the primary ingredient if that is different to the origin of the food. ‘Primary ingredient’ is to be interpreted as an ingredient or several ingredients of a food that represent more than 50 per cent. of that food or which are usually associated with the name of the food by the consumer. The rules have been drafted to be flexible because of concerns that the origin of an ingredient can change for many reasons and the label cannot be expected to change every time. Therefore, the use of a general statement that the primary ingredient does not originate from the country of origin will be allowed.
In terms of labelling and packaging, wherever there is mention of place of origin, either in words or pictures, there will also have to be mention of the origin of the main ingredient, if that is different. Whoever is responsible in the supply chain for labelling a product’s country of origin will clearly be affected by the new rules. However the entire supply chain preceding the labelling of the product will now be subject to a greater emphasis on transparency and tracking in order to be able to comply with the rules.
WM Comment
The new legislation will apply from 1 April 2020 and the transitional period of nearly two years gives an indication that the required changes are expected to be significant for some food operators. It is hard to predict how Brexit will affect implementation of the rules in the UK. Whether or not the UK chooses to implement the rules, food operators with supply chains that stretch into the EU will need to be aware of how the rules will affect them.

Food safety after Brexit
The EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee has issued a press release stating that it is […]
The EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee has issued a press release stating that it is considering how food safety risk management decisions will be made once the UK has left the European Union. Currently, decisions about issues which pose a threat to food safety are made at an EU level.
The committee will explore:
- To what extent food safety risk management is monitored at an EU level, and how that process works
- If the UK could remain part of the EU process after Brexit
- Identifying any gaps that would be created by the UK leaving the EU’s process and ways to fill them domestically.
WM Comment
We will keep you updated with any proposals that come out of the discussions.

Review of advertising rules relating to products high in fat, sugar and salt
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has launched a review of the rules that have […]
The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) has launched a review of the rules that have been in place since last year governing the advertising of food and soft drinks that are high in fat, sugar and salt in non-broadcast media. The advertising rules were introduced in an attempt to curb concerns over children’s diets and reflected the fact that children’s media habits have changed due to the growth of online environments.
The rules include:
- a ban on the inclusion of adverts for products high in fat, sugar and salt in children’s media and other media where children make up 25% or more of the audience
- a ban on adverts for products high in fat, sugar and salt, targeted at younger children, from including licensed characters and celebrities popular with children.
The review will include an assessment of compliance with the rules, the economic and other impacts of the rules and the regulator’s success in securing changes to or removal of adverts which are found to be in breach of the rules.
WM Comment
Contributions to the review are requested by 31 July 2018 and CAP will publish its conclusions in the autumn. We will report on any changes or additions to the rules.