Organic Trade Board’s pesticide claim backed by ad watchdog

An ad by the Organic Trade Board claiming that organic food contains fewer pesticides than non-organic fare has been cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The poster ad showed an organic and a conventional apple in “conversation”, talking about whether they needed to have their “treatments”. A strapline on the poster said “they may look the same, but one way to reduce your exposure to pesticides is to eat more organic food”.

The ASA received one complaint from an unidentified complainant about the ad, questioning whether its claim could be substantiated and suggesting it was denigrating to non-organic food.

It dismissed the complaint on both counts, arguing the use of pesticides was indeed restricted in organic farming and that the OTB had “not actively disparaged” conventional food.

As part of its response to the ASA, the OTB cited Defra figures showing that European Union rules on organic farming placed a limit on the use of pesticides. It also pointed out that more than 300 pesticides were routinely used in conventional farming, but Soil Association-accredited organic farmers were only allowed to use five.

The Food Standards Authority’s own website stated “eating organic food is one way to reduce consumption of pesticide residues and additives,” both Defra and the OTB added.

The ASA also found the ad was not denigrating to conventional food. “We noted that the claim “one way to reduce your exposure to pesticides is to eat more organic food” did not directly reference other methods of food production and only drew a comparison in so far as to present organic food in a positive light,” the regulator said.

“We considered that it was not unreasonable for an advertiser to seek to promote their product, or group of products, in this way.”

The ASA’s ruling comes one week after a French study suggested the world’s best-selling weedkiller, Monsanto’s Roundup, was linked to increased instances of cancer in laboratory rats. Roundup is not used by Soil Association-accredited organic farmers in the UK.