Asda has been fined £5,000 after pleading guilty to an offence involving health claims on mango labelling in-store. The prosecution, brought by Swindon Borough Council, related to labels that echoed Department of Health and NHS sources encouraging people to eat more fruit and vegetables as part of a healthier lifestyle.
Asda said it made the claims in an attempt to support the government’s drive to encourage Britons to eat a balanced diet including more fruit and vegetables as a means of tackling the nation’s rising obesity and cancer problems.
"This prosecution has massive implications - any retailer wishing to promote the health virtues of fruit and vegetables risks being hauled up in front of a court and becoming entangled in outdated laws designed to catch bogus potion peddlers," said Asda in a statement.
The label in question was found in the mango section of the Swindon Haydon branch of Asda in June 2003. It read:
" Mangoes are a great source of vitamin C and beta carotene which are good for healthy eyes and skin. Their antioxidant properties help to fight cancer. Try adding mango to smoothies, fruit salad or breakfast cereal."
"This label was produced in good faith as a means of encouraging customers to eat more fruit and vegetables," said Asda. "Although there is clear medical evidence that eating fruit and vegetables may help to reduce the risk of certain cancers, including stomach, bowel and lung cancers, Swindon Borough Council still decided to prosecute using regulations that stop retailers claiming that a food ‘has the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease.’"
The store is not making light of the issue. "This is a real mango fandango." said Penny Coates, Asda’s private-label director, "We’re in the dock for saying that fruit is good for you - the law is a fruit basket and needs to be changed now."
To start its campaign, to change the law, the store is writing to health minister, John Reid, and parliamentary under secretary of state for public health, Melanie Johnson - both have recently made public statements regarding the links between diets rich in fruit and vegetables and the reduced risk of cancer - to ask for their help in clarifying a law that seems to prevent retailers from doing what they can where it matters most - at the point of sale.
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