Reprimanded by the Consumer Council: – Lerum misleads consumers

At Kiwi, Lerum’s juice series “97 percent fruit and berry content” is on the shelves. Images of raspberries or blackcurrants adorn the labels. The impression is that here you get juice with 97 per cent raspberry or blackcurrant.

But that’s before you’ve read the fine print on the juice bottle. Raspberries and blackcurrants are the raw material that is the least abundant.

The juice is primarily made from apples, pears and grapes. Grapes alone account for 28 percent.

That makes student and consumer Nora Tobiassen react.

– This is dirty marketing and not accidental. It’s to make the consumer think there are more raspberries, she says.

– When people find out about this, it damages both the integrity and the brand of Lerum.

The Consumer Council: – May be an offence

Nora is not alone in reacting to the juice producer’s marketing of the product.

Lerum responds to the criticism further down in the case.

– It is obvious that the labeling confuses and misleads the consumer. Everyone thinks the juice contains 97 percent raspberry unless you study the label, says Olav Kasland, professional director of the Consumer Council, and adds:

– That is what Lerum wants us to believe.

He believes the practice is serious, and approaching be violated the Marketing Act.

«(…) A commercial practice is misleading if it contains incorrect information and is thus untrue or is otherwise suitable to mislead consumers (…).», it says in the legislation.

Strict rules for labeling

The Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority enforces the Marketing Act, but it is The Norwegian Food Safety Authority, which oversees that food products produced and sold in Norway are labeled in accordance with the regulations. .

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority writes in a general statement that labelling, presentation and marketing must be correct, provide the consumer with sufficient information and not be apt to mislead.

Both pictures, descriptions of products and decor are considered, among other things, to be part of the food information for consumers, explains Olga Soleng, senior adviser in the biological food safety section.

– The food information gives the consumer expectations about content and composition, and must therefore be as precise and representative of the product as possible. There must be a connection between content and labeling on the product, writes Soleng.

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Lerum – Too expensive with raspberries

Trine Lerum Hjellhaug, managing director of Lerum, does not respond to criticism about misleading marketing. She explains parts of the criticism this way:

– The reason why we use more raw materials in this product is also about achieving a price that most people can afford. We are therefore very proud of these products, which give the consumer a lot of fruit and berries without added sugar, with a really good taste of blackcurrants and raspberries respectively, she says.

Lerum points out that the raw materials are listed on the front of the label (in small print editor’s note)

Nettavisen wants an answer to why the product is not called grape juice?

– We can understand the question of why it is not called grape juice. The answer is very simple, and is all about taste. The product has been developed to have a clear and distinct taste of blackcurrants and raspberries respectively, she says, and explains:

– Calling it a grape juice when it tastes like blackcurrant or raspberry would be misleading in our opinion.

But not all products in the same series follow the principle. The variant with orange only contains orange concentrate because it gives the flavor the juice producer wants.

In other varieties, such as blackcurrant syrup (50 per cent blackcurrant ed.note), sugar balances the taste in a completely different way than the juice without added sugar, explains Lerum.