Food

The brochure featuring a picture of the product described it as follows:

“Sol & Mar
Breaded Crab Claws
1 KG = 7.16
€1.79 250g”

The description on the product box featured in the leaflet read as follows:

“Muslitos De Mar
Breaded Crab Claws”

The complainant said that while the product name on the box had been ‘Musilitos de Mar’, which when translated into English was “Sea Drumsticks”, the advertisers had referred to the product as ‘Breaded Crab Claws’. The complainant said that while the product had an inedible shell, it contained very little crab meat inside. It was the complainant’s opinion that the product consisted mainly of crab flavoured surimi fish and it was misleading, therefore, to advertise it as ‘crab claws’.

The advertisers said that while they always strive to be in compliance with the requirements of the Code, in this instance they regretted that the description of the product in question had been inaccurate. Having carried out a detailed review of the product and packaging, they noted that their counterparts in the UK had included an inaccurate description of the product. The advertisers said that while the ‘Claws’ that were breaded were ‘Crab Claws’, the filling, as indicated by the complainant, was not in fact crab.

The advertisers said that since the issue was brought to their attention they had informed their counterpart in the UK of the error involved and had cancelled any future printing of the packaging. They said they would also take steps to ensure their products are accurately described going forward.

Complaint Upheld.

The Complaints Committee considered the details of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. The Committee noted that the advertisers had provided an inaccurate description of the product and considered therefore that the advertising was in breach of Sections 4.1, and 4.4 of the Code.


The Committee noted the steps taken by the advertisers to ensure that the advertising did not appear in the same format again and no further action was required in this case.