(YouTube)
  • Albany will change the wording on its Ultima brown bread packaging.
  • This is after a competitor issued a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority.
  • Premier Foods is unhappy about the use of "calories" on the bread packaging.

Albany will change the wording on its Ultima brown bread after a competitor, Premier Foods (producer of Star and Blue Ribbon breads) issued a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

On its packaging, Albany (which is owned by Tiger Brands) claims that the bread contains "only 67 calories per slice".

(Pick n Pay)

Premier Foods complained to the ASA that Albany's use of calories - as opposed to kilojoules - was in contravention of SA's labelling regulations, which require that energy content is also represented as kilojoules.

In fact, last year Premier had to remove its claim from its Blue Ribbon bread that stated "only 95 kcal per square”, following a ruling by the ASA.

(Department of Health)

Premier says South Africans are used to kilojoules and not calories. Shoppers "may be misled into assuming that the energy content of the (Ultima brown bread) is substantially lower than that of similar products, when this is not the case," the company said. The 67 calories equates to about 280 kilojoules. Elsewhere on the packaging, Albany claims the bread is "kilojoule controlled"".

(Pick n Pay)

For its part, Albany argued that SA's labelling regulations do not completely disallow the use of the word "calories”. 

But it did offer to drop the word "only” and add "Calorie Counter." The bread's labelling will now read: "Calorie Counter – 67 calories per slice”. It will also add a disclaimer after "kilojoule controlled”: "Portion control to manage dietary requirements”.

ASA accepted these proposals and believed that it satisfied the concerns raised by Premier.

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