The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) has recommended that the Kellogg Company revise product packaging for Kellogg’s Fruit Flavored Snacks featuring cartoon characters from popular children’s film and television shows.

CARU is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation. It is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

CARU monitors advertising directed to children under the age of 12 and online services for compliance with CARU’s Self-Regulatory Program for Children’s Advertising, including guidelines on online privacy protection.

Product packaging for Kellogg’s Fruit Flavored came to CARU’s through its routine monitoring.

The front of the Fruit Flavored Snacks package featured a large picture of a cartoon character or characters against a colorful background. The front of the package also featured a picture of a large red apple and, in yellow type, the language: “Made with REAL FRUIT. The words “Real Fruit” were in larger, bold font.
      
Below that, in small print appeared the words “see side panel for details.” On the side panel, alongside the “Nutrition Facts,” a disclosure stated: “Made with equal to 20% fruit.”

CARU was concerned that the label “Made with Real Fruit” circumscribed within the image of a large red apple, could communicate the implied claim that the product contains substantial amounts of fruit when directed to a children’s audience.

The advertiser maintained that it did not intend to advertise its “Made with Real Fruit” claim on its Fruit Flavored Snacks packaging to children and used the apple icon to convey to consumers that apple was the type of fruit in the product.

Following its review of the evidence in the record, CARU recommended that to avoid confusing child consumers, Kellogg remove the representation that the product is “Made with Real Fruit” within the apple from packaging featuring cartoon characters appealing to children under the age of 12. CARU found that although the fruit flavored snacks were made with fruit puree concentrate, at the end of the process, only a very small amount of actual fruit puree concentrate was included in each serving of the product.

Kellogg, in its advertiser’s statement, said that while the company does not agree with CARU’s findings, “out of deference to the self-regulatory process, Kellogg will modify the language of the Made with Real Fruit claim and remove the surrounding apple logo from its packaging featuring licensed cartoon characters in compliance with the CARU recommendation.”