The food manufacturer, Unicorn, sells a chewy stick product called “Snax” aimed at young children. The product's box is labelled ‘Fruit and Veg Snax’ and has pictures of fresh apples, berries, corn, pumpkin, and an apple tree. Among the text on the front of the box were the words ‘100% fruit and veg’, ‘No preservatives, artificial colours or flavours’ and ‘Nutritious food for your toddler’. The back of the box included an ingredient list in small print that revealed that Snax contained 90% concentrated apple and pear paste, 5% strawberry puree and 5% corn and pumpkin puree, resulting in an overall sugar content of 85%. The Parents Obesity Group (‘POG’) is concerned about Unicorn’s claims about the nutrition value of Snax and have sent an email to Unicorn to ask them to comment on the content in the chewy stick product. Unicorn provided the following statement in a reply email: It has always been the intent of Unicorn to provide healthy snacks for young children. It is further expected that parents do their own due diligence when purchasing food for their children and that children do not consume more than the recommended daily intake.

Required

Advise POG which, if any, actions may be taken against Unicorn. Refer to relevant legislative provisions and case law in your answer.

Section 18(1): Misleading or Deceptive Conduct

• A person • In trade or commerce • Engage in conduct • that is misleading or deceptive or is likely to mislead or deceive

Two questions to ask to determine whether a conduct is misleading or deceptive:

• What group of persons (or audience) the conduct was aimed at?

The chewy stick product called “Snax” is aimed at young children. It is also aimed at parents. Its label is meant to entice these groups of persons. • It must be able to be inferred that those persons likely, in the circumstances, to be misled (led to a false impression) because of the conduct in person Young children may rely on pictures more than the text in the labels. Based on the images of fresh fruits on the label, it is highly plausible that they would think that the product is made of fresh fruits (which is not the case). The parents may look at the label but need not necessarily have the ability to interpret the text, and thus would also rely on the images to help them interpret the text.

This maybe the case especially since the label containing the ingredients is printed in fine print. Hence, the images of fresh fruits could also make them think that the product is made of fresh fruits. Further, the other texts (in bigger fonts) emphasizing no artificial flavours and that the product is good for toddlers would confirm and create the impression that the product is all natural. In both instances, the young children and parents are most likely be misled (led to a false impression).

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Based on the provided information it appears that Unicorns conduct in labeling and promoting the Snax chewy stick product may be considered misleading ... View the full answer