The advertising watchdog has banned Coca-Cola from claiming its Vitaminwater brand is "nutritious", after upholding complaints that the product actually contained 23g of sugar.
Vitaminwater, which is owned by Coca-Cola, ran a poster campaign with the line "enhanced hydration for the nation – delicious and nutritious".
The Advertising Standards Authority received three complaints that the nutritional claim was misleading because the drink contained a large amount of sugar.
Coca-Cola admitted that the 500ml drink contained 23g of sugar – the equivalent to four or five teaspoons of sugar – but argued that it could be described as nutritious because it contained "meaningful quantities" of other nutrients including vitamin C and four B vitamins.
The ASA noted that on the basis of a 100ml serving the amount of sugar was "relatively low" compared with some other drinks.
However, it was sold in a 500ml size – containing more than a quarter of the recommended daily intake of sugar – which consumers would consider to be a single serving.
"We considered that consumers would understand the word 'nutritious' in the context of the ad as a claim that Vitaminwater contained added ingredients that were needed by the body in order to stay healthy," the ASA said. "However, we considered that they would not expect a 'nutritious' drink to have the equivalent of four or five teaspoons of added sugar."
The ASA said the use of the word nutritious was misleading and banned the ad.
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.
• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
