Golden cream puff - Product has 72 percent sugar - but is "without added sugar" for the manufacturer
Approximately 56,000 participants in the online survey conducted by Foodwatch considered the Alete fruit snacks from Alete to be the "most deceitful advertising" of the year, Foodwatch announced on Tuesday. Alete uses the label "without added sugar," but the snack is almost 72% sugar.
Even if the sugar in the snack is only fruit sugar, Foodwatch explained that this is not to be evaluated better than household sugar in processed products. Unhealthy eating during childhood can lead to serious health conditions such as Type-2 Diabetes in later life. Foodwatch called on the German government to introduce advertising restrictions on junk food for children's protection and to extend these restrictions to packaging design.
The manufacturer of the Alete product, the dairy conglomerate Deutsche Milchkontor (DMK), responded to Foodwatch's criticism and stated that there is an "accumulation of natural (fruit-) sugar" in the fruit snacks. The company classifies the fruit snacks as a "sweet snack" and not as a fruit supplement. According to the company, the packaging states that children should only eat a portion, i.e., a handful of fruit snacks per day. This corresponds to five grams of the snack per day. The information is allegedly "transparently listed in the nutritional table."
Second Place: 44% Price Increase through "Shrinkflation"
Five products were nominated by Foodwatch for the Golden Windbeutel award. In second place, with nearly 27% of the votes, was the Cremissimo Bourbon Vanille Ice Cream from Langnese. Foodwatch considers this to be a particularly deceptive example of "shrinkflation." Unilever, the manufacturer, reduced the packaging size from 1,300 milliliters to 900 milliliters but kept the price of 3.99 Euro. Foodwatch therefore speaks of a price increase of 44%.
Unilever responded to the nomination upon request from the news agency AFP, stating that the company is reacting to the increasing demand for smaller product variants in its range. The 900-milliliter packaging is a solution for households with lower ice cream consumption or smaller freezers. The prices were also adjusted throughout the Cremissimo product line and took into account several factors, "including recipe improvements and the use of sustainable raw materials."
Third Place: Vegan Mortadella
The Vegan Schinken Spicker Mortadella from Rügenwalder Mühle took third place with 11.1% of the votes. Foodwatch considers the label "Based on Sunflower Seeds" to be misleading because the product contains only 2% sunflower protein.
Rügenwalder does not see this as a deception of consumers, as the company explained. The ingredients list always specifies the ingredient that replaces the meat as a nutrient provider. This does not necessarily have to be the ingredient with the largest proportion. The vegan mortadella received 11.1% of the votes.
Pretty Little Meal Bar from Offset Nutrition (2.9%) and GB Foods Germany's Hot Tasse Champignon Creme (2.2%) were laid out casually on spots four and five. Foodwatch criticized Offset Nutrition for marketing its Pretty Little Meal Bar as a "main meal replacement" on social media. In reality, it contained almost five sugar cubes. According to Foodwatch, the "Hot Tasse Champignon Creme" contains insufficient amounts of vegetables.
Foodwatch awarded the Golden Deceptive Label for the 13th time. The consumer organization has been actively fighting against labeling fraud for a long time and demands improved labeling regulations.
- The Golden Cream Puff from Unilever was one of the nominees for Foodwatch's Golden Windbeutel award, falling into fourth place with a relatively low number of votes.
- Despite being nominated for the Golden Windbeutel award, Foodwatch found issues with Unilever's packaging size reduction and price increase in the Golden Cream Puff, denouncing it as an example of "shrinkflation."
- The criticism by Foodwatch against Unilever's Golden Cream Puff was due to the 44% price increase despite the 330-milliliter reduction in packaging size.
- The same controversy surrounding "shrinkflation" was also present in Unilever's Cremissimo Bourbon Vanille Ice Cream, which remained in its original price while experiencing a 400-milliliter decrease in packaging size.
- In response to Foodwatch's criticisms, Unilever maintained that the packaging size reductions were a result of market demand for smaller product variants and adjustments to recipe improvements and the use of sustainable raw materials.
