![\"Advertising](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/2e46\/live\/bd8b12c0-7a82-11ef-bd8c-331e6cdbc6ed.png.webp\")
Advertising Standards Authority<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA “misleading” advert from meal supplement maker Huel has been banned a month after it was ordered to take down two of its other promos.<\/p>\n The company posted a video, featuring founder Julian Hearn discussing its Daily Greens product to Instagram in April. <\/p>\n In the clip, he made claims about health benefits and cost savings that couldn’t be backed up, according The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). <\/p>\n Two ads promoted by Diary of a CEO podcaster Steven Bartlett were taken down<\/a> in August which failed to make clear he had a financial interest in the company.<\/p>\n Huel declined to comment when contacted by BBC Newsbeat but blamed an “editing error” in its response to the ASA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Huel is best known for its range of plant-based meal replacement products.<\/p>\n Its Daily Greens advert featured Mr Hearn saying: “You’ve been told your whole life to eat greens and a lot of people can’t get that amount of greens into their diet.”<\/p>\n Referring to the product, he goes on to say: “We’ve taken a very broad range of greens, so you get a product which is equally good, or in my eyes better, but you get it substantially cheaper.”<\/p>\n The ASA said customers would generally understand “eat your greens” to mean eating vegetables and that Huel was comparing the cost and nutritional value of its product to green veg.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n However, Huel told the ASA it had intended to compare its product to similar meal supplement products, and blamed an editing error.<\/p>\n The regulator said the ad had been shortened, leaving “the impression the comparison was with fresh green vegetables”.<\/p>\n “Because we had not seen evidence that the Daily Greens product was cheaper than a portion of greens,” the ASA said, “we concluded that the claim the product was ‘substantially cheaper’ than an equivalent portion of greens was misleading and could not be substantiated.”<\/p>\n Huel recognised “the error fell short of their standards” according to the ASA report, but the watchdog also took issue with some of its other health claims. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n These included suggestions the product could reduce tiredness, had “gut-friendly probiotics” and contributed to “smooth, healthy skin”.<\/p>\n The ASA said all health claims for food and food supplements have to be authorised by a regulator and “must be presented clearly and without exaggeration”.<\/p>\n “We considered those claims did not have the same meaning as any authorised health claims,” the ASA said. <\/p>\n As a result, Huel has been ordered to take down the banned ad and was warned about making general health claims and comparative price claims. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n‘Editing error’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/d2ef\/live\/597d5d60-7a82-11ef-8327-0f4c4517741e.jpg.webp\")
Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8366\/live\/74a706f0-15d7-11ef-9b12-1ba8f95c4917.jpg.webp\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n