What you can say when marketing organic 2020 - Flipbook - Page 11
How to use claims in the context of a specific product
1. Claims based on organic standards are usually
applicable to specific products
Claims listed which are based on organic standards
are italicised and in bold and marked with our
organic symbol . These should be applicable to
specific products when these products meet the
standards that the claim refers to. The evidence
basis behind these claims is the standards
themselves. It is nonetheless still the responsibility
of the advertiser to check that their particular use of
such claims meets ASA guidelines.
One thing to be careful of are claims based on
standards which relate only to a part of a product
cycle, such as on farm. The use of such claims in the
context of specific products may well need further
qualifying statements to make this clear.
2. General claims about organic farming may not
be applicable to specific products
In this booklet a lot of the statements have been
purposely worded to say “organic farming is XYZ”.
These claims refer to standards for organic farming
or the generic impact of organic farming. The latter
reflects the findings of robust reviews into the
impact of organic farms, usually in comparison to
non-organic farms. Where statements reference
reviews, we have made every effort to ensure
such claims are generic enough to stand up to
scrutiny by referring to robust reviews that are
as comprehensive as possible. However, review
findings reflect average results, and this masks
natural variation between findings for different
farms and products in different places.
One example is that most research on organic
agriculture happens in Europe and North America.
This means the statements in this booklet are by
default less applicable to crops & ingredients which
originate in other continents and climatic zones –
such as produce from tropical and arid environments.
With all this in mind, it is your responsibility to
consider the way in which you present the
information and how it might be interpreted in the
context of the products it is being used to advertise.
We therefore suggest you:
• Ensure it is clear to audiences if a claim refers to
organic farming systems in general, and
on average. This could be through a qualifying
statement that accompanies a headline claim
• Alternatively, ensure that the claim you use,
and its underlying evidence, is representative
of the product advertised. If it is not, more
specific evidence may exist which may be more
representative of your product(s), so don’t be
afraid to look for it.
Any claims in this booklet that are specific to
organic farming do not relate to other stages in a
product’s life cycle (such as processing, transport,
use, and disposal). If you use these claims, it is also
in your interest to be careful not to imply that they
relate to the whole supply chain or life cycle of your
product(s) unless you hold additional evidence
to support this. This is most applicable when
making environmental claims, as ASA guidelines
state that you must ensure you hold evidence to
support any environmental claim you wish to make
about the product you are advertising, taking into
account its entire life cycle. See sections 11.3 and
11.4 of the code (www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/
environmental-claims-general.html). Again, the
use of qualifying claims may help in this instance.
3. Comparative claims need to be supported by
evidence if audiences can name a competitor
If you are making a comparative statement such
as ‘organic XXX has more XXX’ then you need to be
careful about using the claim in a context which
would lead your audience to interpret the statement
as referring to an identifiable competitor. In this
instance, ASA guidelines state that comparisons
must not mislead the consumer about the product
or the competing product, must be about products
which meet the same need or are intended for the
same purpose, and must be verifiable (see section
3.3 of the code).
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