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Hey Campbell’s, Where’s the Beef?

The Campbell Soup Company was recently sued by a New York consumer who said she was misled by Campbell’s Chunky soup label “Beef with Country Vegetables” which has more vegetables than beef.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Campbell's Chunky Beef & Veg

The ingredients statement above shows that there is more water, carrots and potatoes in the can than beef. In fact, the entire 18.8 ounce can has 15 grams of protein, which is only about two ounces of beef!

One has to wonder if Campbell’s took lessons from The Three Stooges on how to make cheap soup?

By contrast, Progresso beef and vegetable soup, has beef as the primary solid ingredient after broth and water.

The consumer’s lawyer further argues that the product should be labeled “Vegetables and Beef” since vegetables predominate over beef. He may be thinking of label rules that require On-Cor, for example, to call the product below “gravy and turkey” because there is more gravy in it than turkey:
en-cor turkey
I don’t know if those rules apply here. The product in question is beef soup and it probably doesn’t even need to have pieces of beef in it.

I think the chances of this case succeeding are… m’m, m’m not good.

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Consumer Reports Relaxes Its Non-Commercialization Policy

Since 1936, Consumer Reports has not allowed companies to use its name or ratings in advertising as a means of promoting their products. However, last week, a regular reader, Dan K., wrote to us saying “I just saw a Kia TV ad which appeared to be a blatant violation of Consumer Reports’ no-advertising policy.”

Here’s the commercial in question. Note what is shown and said at the 16-second mark:

CR Recommended Kia

It says that Consumer Reports recommended four different models of Kia vehicles and listed them. The faint fine print on the bottom of the screen that virtually no one would be able to read says…

*MOUSE PRINT:

Consumer Reports does not endorse products or services.

If you were able to follow the QR code in the ad, it would take you to a ratings page at Consumer Reports where readers can see a summarized report about the particular vehicle including the ratings it was given in various categories (only first screen shown below).

Consumer Reports recommended Kia

Pretty telling, however, is the disclosure that C/R makes in their summary report that this model is just one of 153 recommended SUVs. To MrConsumer, that diminishes what he assumed was a rather unique distinction of getting to be “CR Recommened.”

The traditional policy of the magazine did not allow companies to promote how well Consumer Reports rated their products or even mention Consumer Reports in advertising. But starting in 2022, the “No Commercial Use Policy” changed. The new policy, among other things, allows manufacturers to license the CR/Consumer Reports Recommended logo, and it probably costs them a pretty penny.

A spokesperson for Consumer Reports explained the policy shift in this edited excerpt:

Consumers now rely on many different information channels when researching and shopping for products and services, including social media, online e-commerce, and digital advertising. To help serve consumers where they need guidance and to increase our impact in the marketplace, we’ve expanded our licensing program. Only after Consumer Reports publishes a “Recommended” rating, can a manufacturer opt to display the CR Recommended mark, provided they agree to abide by our strict usage guidelines.

The fees we charge to display “CR Recommended” funds the program’s operating costs, including administering and monitoring the program to assure proper usage. Any remaining funds will support CR’s mission, including our consumer education and advocacy.

So the Consumer Reports non-commercialization policy still exists, but now it has a huge asterisk after it. How do you feel about the policy shift? We welcome your comments.

Incidentally, C/R confirmed that Kia did purchase a license for the above ad, as did Nissan for this ad. However, we’re pretty sure that the use of “CR Recommended” on Costco’s website for an LG dishwasher is not compliant because the summarized report is illegible even on a 24-inch monitor.

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Kettle Chips: When Cutting the Fat Doesn’t Cut the Calories

When a product is air fried, one expects it to have fewer calories. Such doesn’t seem to be the case, however, with Kettle Chips.

Here is the regular variety of Kettle chips. It has 140 calories per ounce and nine grams of fat.

Regular Kettle Chips

Now here is the “air fried” Kettle chips.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Air Fried Kettle Chips

This variety says “air fried” in huge letters, but in small type that some people might miss, it says “kettle cooked, air finished.” What? The chips are really deep-fat fried, but then blown dry, so to speak?

That alone could be misleading, and so the company was just sued in March by a consumer.

But look closer, comparing the two nutrition labels. The air-fried product says 30% less fat than the regular version, and sure enough, it has six grams of fat per ounce versus nine grams of fat. But how is it possible that the bag with less fat has the exact same amount of calories per ounce? The ingredients in both products seem to be in the same order of predominance.

We asked Campbell’s Soup, the maker of Kettle chips, for an explanation. They did not reply.

Now it is your turn. What could explain that there is no change in calories in the air-fried product despite having one-third less fat?

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