McDonald’s Has Won The Right To Label Fizzy Drinks as One of Your Five-a-Day

Fast food giant McDonald’s has won the right to market their new brand of children’s fizzy drinks as one of their five-a-day even though it contains six teaspoons of sugar.

According to The Daily Mail, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK to has given McDonald’s the go ahead to market their drink range ‘Fruitizz’ as a fruit.

The fizzy drinks contain fruit juice concentrate, sparkling water and a preservative known as potassium sorbate.

The new drink comes in flavours grape, raspberry and lemon and a 250ml serving contains 100 calories and 25g of sugar.

An investigation was launched by the ASA after complaints were made about a McDonald’s television advertisement appeared on Mumsnet.com.

The ad said: “Grape, apple and raspberry juice with refreshing sparkling water. Fruitizz is full of fruity bubbles with no added sugar, artificial colours or flavours. And it’s one of your child’s five-a-day.”

McDonald's are marketing fizzy drink Fruitizz as a fruit in the UK

However, Malcolm Clarke of the Children’s Food Campaign in the UK said governments need to clamp down on what falls into the realm of the five-a-day.

“McDonald’s is only doing what other companies do: exploiting the laxness surrounding the five-a-day regime for commercial benefit.

“We are concerned that increasingly the five-a-day message – originally designed to tackle cancer and heart disease is being used to promote junk foods, sometimes with very low fruit and vegetable content.

“If the government actually values the five-a-day claim and wants it to be a meaningful label that consumers can have confidence in, they need to re-issue and reinforce robust guidance restricting the five-a-day message to genuinely healthy foods,” he said.

Christina Merryfield, a dietician in London’s Cromwell Hospital said: “Sugary drinks can encourage tooth decay and erosion and lead to weight gain. Water is a much better alternative and milk is great because it is full of calcium and other vitamins and minerals.”

McDonald’s has released a statement after the ASA’s ruling.

“We welcome the ruling by the ASA. Fruitizz is a drink designed for the Happy Meal menu, served in a 250ml measure as standard and it is not marketed in larger sizes.

“In the development of Fruitizz we followed the five-a-day guidance provided by the Department of Health. Frutizz contains no added sugars, artificial flavours and all size servings provide one daily portion of fruit as defined by the Department of Health."

Do you think the Irish government will be as quick to allow McDonald's to market Fruitizz as one of our five-a-day?