Do you know the foreign speciality: beef jerky?

Korean kimchi, South African braai, Moroccan tagine and ceviche from Peru. For delicacies from world cuisine, you no longer have to travel far: supermarkets and menus are full of these delicacies. Recently, the chairman of the Advertising Code Committee dealt with a case about an American speciality: the dried and spiced meat snack beef jerky. According to the complainant, the text '100% lean beef' on the front of the packaging would be misleading, because the food is not made entirely of meat but also contains other ingredients. But no, it is not misleading.

The test, as always, is: what does the average consumer assume. In these matters of misleading statements assessment the claim is always assessed in the context of the entire package.

The chairman leaves open whether Dutch consumers know what jerky is. He takes a different approach and assumes two scenarios. For both scenarios he concludes that the packaging is not misleading. Scenario 1: if the average consumer is familiar with the seasoned meat snack, they will understand that '100% lean beef' is meant to indicate that only beef has been used. Scenario 2: if the average consumer has no idea what jerky means he will look at the back of the packaging. There he will infer from the legal name 'Meat snack speciality based on sliced beef, marinated, smoked and dried - original flavour' along with the ingredient list that beef jerky consists of several ingredients. That consumer then understands that the claim '100% lean beef' refers to the ingredient beef.

Logical outcome, but remarkable that the president assumes two levels of consumer knowledge. It would have sufficed for him to test for the second scenario. If the packaging is apparently clear enough for the consumer who does not know what jerky means, it will be more than clear for the consumer who does know the delicacy.

Lisanne Steenbergen