UK Quorn ads not misleading, rules ASA

By Caroline Scott-Thomas

- Last updated on GMT

Most viewers would know Quorn was meat-free, ASA said
Most viewers would know Quorn was meat-free, ASA said

Related tags Nutrition Quorn

Most UK consumers would recognise Quorn as a meat-free product, and advertisements for Quorn sausages, burgers and other products therefore do not need to specifically say that they do not contain meat, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled.

Four viewers of Quorn advertisements complained to the ASA that Quorn was a meat-free product but this was not made clear in the ads.

However, Marlow Foods, which owns the Quorn brand, said that its products had been on sale in the UK for more than 25 years where, according to its own survey data, Quorn has 92% brand awareness, so most consumers would be aware that it is a meat-free product.

The television ads featured a barbecue, in which a package of sausages was replaced with a package of Quorn sausages, accompanied by the on-screen text “Favourite Meals, Made Healthier”. A second ad featured the same text with a package of beef mince being replaced by a package of Quorn mince, in a scene in which a woman is preparing a meal.

The ASA said in its ruling: “The ASA acknowledged that for some consumers, whether or not a product contained meat would have a strong bearing on their decision to purchase, and that the products featured in the ad resembled meat products. However, we considered that Quorn was an established and well-known brand of vegetarian products… We considered that the average consumer would be aware that the ads were for meat-free products.”

Both advertisements referred to Quorn as a healthier alternative to meat products based on its lower saturated fat content.

The ASA concluded: “We considered that the purpose of the Quorn products featured in the ads, as the main part of a meal, meant they were alternatives to meat, and so it was valid to compare their nutritional properties to meat. …We concluded that, because it presented Quorn sausages and burgers as an alternative to meat sausages and burgers and made accurate claims about the relative quantity of saturated fat, the ads were not misleading.”

Related news

Related products

show more

Take Control with Predictive Modeling from Corbion

Take Control with Predictive Modeling from Corbion

Content provided by Corbion | 08-Mar-2024 | Product Brochure

Increased demand for uncured, higher pH formulations and natural products has made the challenge of controlling Listeria difficult. The good news: the...

Follow us

Products

View more

Webinars