ASA publishes research on green claims in food & beverage industry

The question

What did the ASA find in its research into green claims being made about meat, dairy and plant-based alternative food and drink products?

The key takeaway

The ASA did not find anything to warrant enforcement action in this space. That said, there are still some areas in which advertisers are falling foul of this knotty area, and the ASA has published some helpful takeaways from the consumer research it conducted.

The background

In 2021, the ASA announced that it would be launching proactive enquiries into the sectors most likely to have the biggest roles in contributing to the UK’s compliance with its environmental targets. One of those sectors was the food and beverage sector, with a focus on meat, dairy and plant-based alternative products.

The development

The ASA has now published the findings of its enquiry into this space, which included research on how green claims are interpreted by consumers. The ASA considers whether a claim is misleading by reference to its own understanding of how a consumer would interpret the claim, meaning that consideration of the ASA’s consumer research is key to understanding how the ASA will treat environmental claims.

Key findings from the consumer research include the following:

• broad claims like “good for the planet” were usually taken at face value and not challenged by consumers, but there were some concerns that these claims were simply a method of making green claims without providing any evidence
• certain terminology and imagery could lead to a cascade of associations and implied claims (eg the word “natural” could lead to the assumption that the product was “organic”, even if that word was never used)
• visual imagery, especially the colour green, tended to evoke assumptions that a product or brand was generally good for the environment, even if there were no explicit claims to that effect, and
• the term “plant-based” was usually assumed to be true, because the consequences of being false or misleading in respect of that claim in particular could be very high.

The ASA’s key findings from the market research into the claims being made in this area were as follows:

• most advertising claims about food and drink focused on taste, nutrition and price – not the environment
• there was some evidence of vague claims of “sustainability”, which were occasionally unqualified and unsubstantiated, although the ASA noted many advertisers had comprehensive sustainability frameworks and initiatives in place
• there is a growing trend of “regenerative farming” claims which the ASA has stated it will be watching closely (and producing specific guidance on), owing to the wide range of practices currently being labelled with this term
• there were some breaches of ASA precedent and guidance, particularly on comparative environmental impact claims which did not suitably qualify the basis of the comparison
• there was no widespread evidence of obviously misleading ads in this space.

The ASA also set out some of the steps it will be taking out of the exercise into the remainder of 2024. It will:

• continue to engage with other regulators and produce a series of CAP Insight Articles on the key themes coming out of the consumer research
• conduct additional monitoring and follow-up engagement to address instances of clear-cut breaches, with the potential to investigate less clear-cut instances of non-compliance (focussing on unqualified claims of “sustainability” and comparative environmental impact claims)
• continue to monitor the use of green imagery to imply a positive environmental impact
• conduct further investigations into what regenerative farming entails, to better understand the claims being made on the issue
• partner with Defra and the Institute of Grocery Distribution on recommendations to Government over eco-labelling schemes.

Why is this important?

It’s no surprise that the ASA should be keeping a close eye on green claims (one of its core focus areas – see our Summer 2024 Snapshot on the ASA and CAP’s Annual Report 2023), especially in the food and drinks industry which has such a potentially huge impact on the environment as well as consumer choices. The good news is that the ASA’s research didn’t immediately throw up serious industry-wide concerns. It does show, however, that the ASA remains committed to ongoing monitoring and follow up engagement if it spots green claim breaches.

Any practical tips?

The consumer research identified that certain claims could cause consumers to make associations and arrive at claims never made on the face of the ad, possibly widening the door for the ASA to find that a misleading claim has been made even if it is not explicitly mentioned. Businesses should ensure, therefore, that they critically consider the overall impression of their ads, and whether they might be taken to mean more than they say outright.

They should also:

• be especially careful when making generic “sustainability” claims (and ideally avoid them altogether unless they can be robustly substantiated)
• be as specific as possible about the basis for a comparison when making comparative environmental impact claims
• be aware that claims of “regenerative farming” may come under particular scrutiny during the rest of 2024
• watch out for the series of CAP Insight Articles as they are published throughout the summer. 

Summer 2024