Two advertisements promoting British beef and milk have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following a complaint from television presenter and environmental campaigner Chris Packham. The ads, part of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB) Let’s Eat Balanced campaign, claimed that British beef has a carbon footprint half the global average and that British milk has a carbon footprint a third lower than the global average.
Packham argued that the carbon footprint claims were misleading because they did not reflect the full environmental impact of British meat and dairy, including emissions from cooking and waste. The ASA upheld the complaint, stating that the average consumer would interpret the claims as covering the full lifecycle, not just production up to the retail stage.
The AHDB defended the ads, saying they were based on evidence and that the carbon footprint claims referred to “cradle-to-retail” stages. However, the ASA ruled that the evidence provided was insufficient to support the full lifecycle claims as consumers would understand them. The ASA reminded AHDB that environmental claims should be based on the full lifecycle unless stated otherwise.
Will Jackson, AHDB’s director of communications and market development, said the campaign was designed to provide factual information about British food standards. He noted that independent consumer research conducted after the investigation found that most respondents interpreted the ads as relating only to the production phase, supporting the board’s belief that consumers were not misled.
