Health claims are competitive, finds FTC report
Economics shows that nutrition-related claims were a major focus of
food advertising and an important focus of competition during the
last two decades.
A report commissioned by the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Economics shows that nutrition-related claims were a major focus of food advertising and an important focus of competition during the last two decades.
Entitled 'Advertising Nutrition & Health, Evidence from Food Advertising 1977-1997', the report reviews data collected by Commission staff on the types of claims made in 11,647 advertisements taken from a sample of eight leading magazines between 1977 and 1997.
The primary focus of the study is on advertising claims related to health and nutrition, but it also examines other types of advertising claims. It reviews how nutrition-related claims in advertising changed under the various regulatory policies in place during these years.
The data shows that claims are an important source of competition between companies and also reflects a sustained movement toward specific nutrient claims, such as "low fat," in place of, or in addition, to more general nutrition claims, such as "nutritious." The study noted that changes in advertising content appear to be associated with changes in regulatory rules and enforcement policies.
Looking at the increased focus on diet and health issues in advertising in the late 1980s, and changes in the use of health claims before and after the passage of the Nutrition, Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA), the report found that, for example, at their peak in 1989, heart disease and serum cholesterol claims were made in 8.2 per cent of advertisements, before dropping substantially in the early 1990s following the NLEA's passage. By 1997 heart disease and serum cholesterol claims had again risen somewhat and were found in 3.4 per cent of ads, 41 per cent of the peak level.
In the post-NLEA period, the report also found a substantial narrowing of the nutrition focus in advertising. For nutrient content claims, total fat had become the primary focus of advertising competition by 1997, replacing claims for other major risk factors such as saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium.
Additionally, comparative claims had dropped to very low levels for all nutrients except total fat. Data indicate that competition on major nutrients peaked in 1991. By 1997, the average number of nutrients in ads with nutrient claims returned to the level of the mid-1980s, a 33 per cent drop from the peak.
For health claims, the most dramatic change after the NLEA occurred in the market for fats and oils, where claims about the health reasons to choose one fat over another have been eliminated in advertising. Advertising for fruit and vegetables also fell 50 per cent after the NLEA, but orange juice producers who continued to advertise were more likely to use health claims.
The report provides detailed information on the content of food advertising under the different policies adopted during the years 1977-1997. Copies are available on the FTC's website and also from the FTC's Bureau of Economics at 202-326-2361.
