Coke’s ‘health’ drink ‘too sweet to be nutritious’

LONDON - The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned an advertisement of Coca-Cola’s ‘Vitamin Water’ for claiming that the drink is ‘nutritious’ while containing up to five teaspoons of sugar.

It is the second time in little over a year that the firm has been censured for claims about health-giving properties of the drink, which contains 23g of sugar per half-litre bottle, reports the Daily Mail.

The product comes in eight ‘give-health-a-big-kiss’ varieties with names like Spark, Defence and Power-C, in flavours such as ‘apple-kiwi’ and ‘tropical citrus’, even though they do not contain any fruit.

The Advertising Standards Authority on Tuesday said consumers ‘would not expect a ‘nutritious’ drink to have the equivalent of four or five teaspoons of added sugar’.

Most would be expected to finish the bottle - a quarter of their recommended daily intake of sugar, it added.

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola had argued that the sugar level was within the range of a low-calorie drink, while vitamin content, such as a daily dose of vitamin C, meant it could be considered healthy.

“We have always been completely transparent that the drinks contain 23g of sugar in each 500ml bottle. We do not believe this detracts from the vitamin and mineral content,” said a spokesman.

But the ASA banned it from using the word ‘nutritious’ in future ad campaigns.

In 2009, Coca-Cola was rapped for implying the drinks were healthier than eating vegetables.

Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, welcomed the ruling, saying: “It’s very disappointing they’ve been marketing a drink which is laced with sugar in this way.” (ANI)