Tetra Pak Modifies advertisement to the satisfaction of CCP.

Islamabad,  31-07-2010

In response to the clarifications sought by the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), Tetra Pak has made a commitment to modify its milk advertisement to satisfy CCP’s concern and for clarification purposes of public at large. “The Network for Consumer Protection” had approached CCP in respect of an advertisement sponsored by Tetra Pak with a concern that it might contravene the provisions relating to deceptive marketing practices. The advertisement stated that “For generations we have boiled milk at home, thinking that boiling makes milk safe for drinking. However, a recent research by PCSIR has proven that boiling milk for an extended period not only reduces the nutrition of naturally present B-Vitamin by up to 36% but also does not eliminate all the germs”. The OFT department of CCP, established in 2008, is mainly responsible for dealing with deceptive marketing practices covered by Section 10 of the Competition Ordinance, 2010. CCP through the OFT directed Tetra Pak and PCSIR to provide the studies on which the advertisement was based so that CCP could verify the assertions made in the advertisement. Upon review and analysis, the OFT found that although the studies sponsored by Tetra Pak and conducted by PCSIR concluded that boiling reduces the content of naturally present B-Vitamin in milk and does not eliminate all germs, it does not in any manner conclude that boiled milk is unsafe for drinking. However, Tetra Pak has agreed with the view taken by OFT that the advertisement may give the impression that milk boiled at home is not safe for drinking and such fact is not based on the findings of the studies conducted by PCSIR. As an effort to resolve the matter and to eliminate any potential risk of misleading information, Tetra Pak provided an undertaking to CCP that in case it runs the advertisement in the future, it shall not use the statement “For generations we have boiled milk at home, thinking that boiling makes milk safe for drinking”. Tetra Pak has made this commitment to satisfy CCP’s concern and for clarification purposes of public at large.