Naughty Ribena

Ribena maker admits misleading public

The Age: March 27, 2007 - 10:30AM



Global drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline has admitted that it misled the public
over the vitamin C content of its popular blackberry drink Ribena.


The company faced 15 charges related to misleading advertising in an
Auckland court today, risking potential fines of up to $3 million.


The Commerce Commission called for penalties of between $275,000 and
$300,000 to be imposed on the firm. It also said the company should be
forced to take out adverts to inform the public that it had been misled.


The case came after two high school students, Anna Devathasan and Jenny
Suo, tested the children's drink against advertising claims that "the
blackcurrants in Ribena have four times the vitamin C of oranges" in 2004.


Instead, the two found the syrup-based drink contained almost no trace of
vitamin C, and one commercial orange juice brand contained almost four
times more than Ribena.


"We thought we were doing it wrong, we thought we must have made a
mistake," Devathasan, now aged 17, told New Zealand newspapers of the
school experiment.


GSK paid little attention to the claims of Devathasan and Suo until their
complaints reached the Commerce Commission.