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Summary
- Manuka Honey comes under fire for claiming to “help with cough symptoms” in their advertisement.
- Karin Kos CEO Apiculture NZ believes that there is a requirement of smarter marketing strategies.
- Antibacterial claims about the product could be misleading to people, especially in these sensitive times of COVID-19.
An advertisement promoting Manuka Honey as a cure for cough has been condemned as a code breach by the ASA in the United Kingdom. They are of the view that this advertisement is a false claim.
The ad landed in hot waters with the Advertising Standards Authority UK, after there was a recent claim made in the Manuka Doctor ad that it was a simple, medically advised form of self-treatment for cough.
What exactly did the ad say?
It advertisment stated that this honey ought to be the immediate treatment for people suffering from cough. It said antibiotics alone cannot avert one from catching cold, however honey could help when there are the indications of cold. It said consuming 10g of this medical grade honey will reduce the intensity as well as frequency of the cough through the day.
Manuka honey ad stated that it had “anti-microbial properties”. This is contradictory to the guidelines that clearly state that in no advertisement can one show that a food item is the cure for any form of human disease.
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Apiculture CEO’s opinion
Apiculture New Zealand’s Chief Executive, Karin Kos is of the view that though this ruling may not affect the sales of Manuka Honey in the United Kingdom, there is need for the exporting countries to be more responsible and smarter about their marketing strategies.
Apiculture industry NZ is valued at NZ$5 billion and not limited to only honey and bee items as honey bees have an important part in fertilising countryside plants for nitrogen restoration, stone fruit, berry to name a few.
She further said that honey is clearly deemed a food item as per the food labelling regulations. However, being medical-grade honey, it has globally been reputed as a way to decrease infection. It is currently the most researched honey across the globe that is of the medical grade variety.
COVID-19 conditions making the claim even more sensitive
The ad claim about Manuka Honey being able to help with the symptoms of cough may be especially sensitive at a time like this when the entire world is fighting with COVID-19, and one of its most major symptoms is cough.
While there are vaccines being rolled out gradually throughout the world, claiming that a food item can reduce or cure the symptoms of cough could send a very misleading message to people and may change their course of treatment completely.
The officials are of the view that when the ad states that the product has “antimicrobial” elements, it might be perceived by people to help in killing microbes and that could make a world of a difference. People might fail to take appropriate treatment for their problems and rather rely on this product, only doing further damage to their condition by ignoring the correct line of treatment.
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