Whole grain cereals

Quaker Oatmeal Granola with 94% whole grain cereals. Sounds good, right? When a consumer inspects the list of ingredients on the back of the packaging she finds the product only contains 63% of whole grain cereals. The other ingredients are mostly sweeteners. It follows from the nutrition declaration that the product contains twice as much sugar as it does fibers. For this reason the complainant finds the packaging misleading. She files a complaint with the Advertising Code Committee (RCC).
 
The defense of the advertiser is that “94% whole grain cereals” means that the biggest part of the used grains are whole grain cereals. The advertiser does not understand why this would be misleading since this is the first time someone complains on this point.
 
The chairman of the Dutch Advertising Code Committee (RCC) agrees with the complainant. The basic rule is that it’s expected from the average consumer that he reads the list of ingredients before making a purchase. However, the mere fact that the list of ingredients is accurate doesn’t mean that the packaging cannot be misleading. The intention of the advertiser to express the percentage of whole grain in relation to all the (types of) used grains in the product – as opposed to: the percentage whole grains in relation to the entire product – doesn’t follow from the packaging. This applies all the more since the front of the packaging doesn’t refine this at all. The statement of “94% whole grain cereals” is too absolute and isn’t refined by the image of a field of grains and the position of the statement (in a grain shaped plane).
 
I wonder whether the chairman would have ruled differently if the complaint regarded an alternative product containing dried fruits and nuts. In that case, it is arguable whether the consumer can expect that 94% of the product consists of whole grain cereals.
 
Fleur Jeukens