Post by Willow on Jul 10, 2014 9:49:58 GMT 9.5
THE claws are out in a cat fight over "smoke and mirrors" claims on feline food packaging.
NESTLE New Zealand - which sells the Purina cat food brand - has taken its competitor Mars New Zealand to court over statements on the company's Whiskas dry cat food.
The cat food claims to have the highest level of protein in large purple print across its packet.
But in the small print, the product says it has the highest level of protein based on an average of the Whiskas dry range compared with leading dry cat food brands in supermarkets.
Nestle says the highest level of protein claim is either misleading or meaningless, and wants an interim injunction stopping Mars from making that claim.
Eighty-three per cent of product sales in the Whiskas range are of low-protein products - but they still carried the banner saying "highest level of protein", Nestle says.
Nestle's lawyer Laura O'Gorman told the High Court in Auckland on Thursday the statement used a "smoke and mirrors" effect.
It wasn't enough for the protein level to be above average - it had to have a higher level of protein than all other products on the market for the claim to be true, she said.
Consumers who did notice the claim would either assume it was meaningful and a good reason to choose the product for their cat, or they would read the finer print and realise it was totally meaningless and unhelpful, Ms O'Gorman said.
It didn't assist consumers in the task of finding high-protein cat food at all as if they relied on the claim they would be misled, she said.
Mars says the highest protein claim isn't misleading and stands by the statements.
It says the finer print is big enough that consumers would notice it and understand what the highest protein claim really means.
So all you kitty cats out there, make sure you read your packets carefully!
NESTLE New Zealand - which sells the Purina cat food brand - has taken its competitor Mars New Zealand to court over statements on the company's Whiskas dry cat food.
The cat food claims to have the highest level of protein in large purple print across its packet.
But in the small print, the product says it has the highest level of protein based on an average of the Whiskas dry range compared with leading dry cat food brands in supermarkets.
Nestle says the highest level of protein claim is either misleading or meaningless, and wants an interim injunction stopping Mars from making that claim.
Eighty-three per cent of product sales in the Whiskas range are of low-protein products - but they still carried the banner saying "highest level of protein", Nestle says.
Nestle's lawyer Laura O'Gorman told the High Court in Auckland on Thursday the statement used a "smoke and mirrors" effect.
It wasn't enough for the protein level to be above average - it had to have a higher level of protein than all other products on the market for the claim to be true, she said.
Consumers who did notice the claim would either assume it was meaningful and a good reason to choose the product for their cat, or they would read the finer print and realise it was totally meaningless and unhelpful, Ms O'Gorman said.
It didn't assist consumers in the task of finding high-protein cat food at all as if they relied on the claim they would be misled, she said.
Mars says the highest protein claim isn't misleading and stands by the statements.
It says the finer print is big enough that consumers would notice it and understand what the highest protein claim really means.
So all you kitty cats out there, make sure you read your packets carefully!