Peta "meat kills" ad banned

An advert by the animal rights group Peta featuring the words 'meat kills' has been banned for implying eating meat causes swine flu.

The poster for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals involved the phrase being imposed on smaller recurring text that stated: 'E.coli, mad cow, swine flu, MRSA'.

The words swine flu featured more prominently than the rest and below was the phrase 'Go Vegetarian'.

The advert drew a complaint from a member of the public that it was misleading in implying that swine flu could be caught be eating meat and that it might cause undue fear about how swine flu could be contracted.

In response, the animal rights group claimed it was not intended to suggest eating meat caused swine flu, but rather highlight the role that livestock production played in the incubation, development and spreading of fatal infectious diseases.

They believed the poster made the legitimate case that a reduction in meat consumption, or adopting a purely vegetarian diet, was one of the best ways to prevent the development and spread of deadly diseases that originated from livestock production and meat consumption and which threatened public health.

The group claimed the action by the government to highlight the causes of swine flu would lead to consumers realising eating meat did not cause swine flu.

The tag-line 'meat kills' was also meant to highlight the consequences of livestock production.

The Advertising Standards Agency, however, ruled the ad breached regulations.

The ASA said: 'Although we understood the intention was to refer to livestock and meat production rather than just eating meat, we considered that the message was, at best, ambiguous.

'We considered that some readers might infer from the poster, and in particular the claim 'meat kills' in conjunction with the claim 'Go vegetarian', that eating meat caused swine flu.

'We concluded that the poster was likely to mislead and could cause undue fear and distress to some readers.'

As a result the watchdog ruled the advert should not appear again in its current form.

Waitrose removes adverts from Fox News

The supermarket chain Waitrose has withdrawn its advertising from Fox News after complaints were received about remarks made by a presenter involving US president Barack Obama.

Glenn Beck caused controversy back in July when he alleged Mr Obama was being a 'racist'.

Describing the arrest of a black academic, Henry Louis Gates, Mr Beck said the president's actions had shown him to be a 'guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.'

The remarks led to a number of leading companies – including Wal-Mart and Best Buy - removing their advertising from the US news channel.

And Waitrose have now announced it has also withdrawn its ad campaign, carried by Sky in Britain, following a series of complaints from customers.

A spokesman said: 'We have pulled it because we believe it's the right thing to do. Our customers' views are important to us.'

'We take the placement of our ads in individual programmes very seriously, ensuring the content of these programmes is deemed appropriate for a brand with our values.

'Since being notified of our presence within the Glenn Beck programme, we have withdrawn all Waitrose advertising from the Fox News channel with immediate effect and for all future TV advertising campaigns.'

Fast food 'contains half children's daily calories'

A new report has warned parents that fast food can contain half a child's daily calorie intake in one meal.

Consumer watchdog Which? has found children consume an average 947 calories at Burger King, 912 at KFC and 868 at McDonalds.

The calories weren't the only concern for Which?, who also discovered children who went to KFC ate two thirds of their guideline daily salt intake, and 11 to 14-year-olds consumed half of their guideline daily amount of sugar at McDonalds and Burger King.

The watchdog also said one in four children surveyed in the UK as part of the Consumers International survey on fast food marketing said they went to a fast food chain at least once a week.

Martyn Hocking, editor of Which? magazine, said: 'It's really positive that fast food chains have made their children's meals healthier and added options like fruit and veg to the menu, but all too often kids go for options that are high in calories, fat, sugar and salt, particularly when they visit with their friends.

'We'd like to see all fast food restaurants providing nutritional information at the counter so that parents and older children know what they're eating.'

The research showed a quarter of children who said they visited fast food outlets for a 'snack' actually ate a whole meal, which when added to their daily meal intake would take them above the recommended calorie, fat, salt and sugar levels.

Which? also said they had concerns about the use of toys to promote fast food, saying: 'Both McDonalds and Burger King use toys and film promotions to market meals to children, which could encourage more frequent visits. Four in ten children aged eight to 11 said that McDonalds was their favourite fast food chain because of the toys and Happy Meals.'

Watchdog rules smoothies part of five-a-day

Health officials have finally put a long-running debate to bed by declaring fruit smoothie drinks do indeed count for two of the recommended portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

Smoothie maker Innocent received a series of complaints after launching an advertising campaign claiming its drinks could count for two of the five a day.

However, the Advertising Standards Agency, having consulted with the Department of Health, Food Standards Agency and the British Nutrition Foundation, has now declared that the non-dairy 250ml drinks do contain enough pulped fruit and juice to consist two of the recommended portions.

A statement on the Department of Health's 5 A DAY website declares: 'Smoothies may count as a maximum of two of your five-a-day where they contain both pure 100 per cent fruit juice and all of the edible pulped fruit and/or vegetable… one portion is defined as at least 150mls of fruit juice or 80g of fruit or vegetable.'

Dr Shilpee Aggarwal, nutritionist for Innocent drinks, said: 'This is good news for the consumer as now the Food Standards Agency, the British Nutrition Foundation, the ASA and most importantly the Department of Health all agree that smoothies can count as two portions of fruit.

'Smoothies are an easy and tasty way to help people reach their five-a-day target.'

Morrisons records huge leap in profits

The supermarket chain Morrisons has announced a dramatic rise in half-year pre-tax profits.

The UK's fourth-largest supermarket chain said it had managed to attract new customers hunting for bargains during the challenging economic climate.

Over the last two years, the supermarket claims to have attracted a million new customers.

In the six months up to August 2nd, Morrisons' profits rose by 22 per cent to £359 million on an underlying basis, up from £259 million last year.

Like-for-like sales, excluding the effect of VAT and fuel, were reported to have risen by rose 7.8 per cent

Commenting, Marc Bolland, chief executive of the supermarket chain, said: 'This has been an excellent first-half performance from Morrisons, continuing our run of market-beating sales growth.'

He warned, however, growth would slow in the second half of the year as food inflation eases.

'As inflation comes out of the market, growth will be a smaller single digit number,' he said.

Cigarettes and crisps: Breakfast for UK kids

British children are eating junk food such as crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks for breakfast, new research has found.

The Kellogg's report, which coincides with National Breakfast Week, discovered half a million children eat biscuits for their morning meal.

Some £646 million is spent by children buying biscuits, cake and meat snacks on their way to school, with one in every class of 14-year-olds going to school having consumed nothing more than a cigarette.

Experts have warned this is not only bad for their health, but also breeds poor discipline in the classroom.

Public health nutritionist, Kathy Cowbrough, who was involved with the government's Sure Start Centres, said: 'How often have we all seen young children not wanting to cooperate with harassed parents, or school children unable to stay alert for valuable lessons at school?

'This is because missing a decent breakfast means we can be saying goodbye to up to a quarter of the nutrients and energy we need for the day, making us more tired, irritable and less able to concentrate in the morning.'

Kellogg's says parents are fuelling the bad food binge, by handing over money so children can buy food on the way to school. Of the parents who give their children money for breakfast, two-thirds say it's inevitable it will be spent on junk food.

Six in ten parents admitted to having serious concerns about their child's diet, and a third are worried about their child's health. Kellogg's says the problem could be solved if parents took these funds away and gave children a breakfast at home.

Rachel Fellows spokesperson for Kellogg's said: 'Ask any parent and I think they'd agree, a biscuit or packet of crisps are okay snacks when part of a balanced diet but they're not breakfast.

'This report shows parents are having a tough time but we know parents want to do the right thing but something's stopping that happening. We all need to help parents find solutions – like open more breakfast clubs in schools - so each child can start the day with a decent meal in them.'

Top of the junk-food breakfast brands children eat, according the research, was Walkers crisps, followed by Hula Hoops and Kit Kat.