The UK food manufacturing company specializing in dried fruit, nuts, seeds and snack products, ran an Instagram campaign on May. 8 2026, featuring five billboard posters in London which used claims including “Eat pecans. Live longer” and “Eat nuts. Live longer”, alongside statements linking nut consumption with lower cholesterol and reduced heart disease risk.
In its recent ruling, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) told Whitworths they could not make health claims for foods unless they were authorized on the applicable register, and the ads were removed.
Luca Bucchini, food law expert and managing director at Hylobates Consulting, told NutraIngredients that while the whole food trend is growing, it is not new, noting that several nut brands across Europe have tried to leverage the health angle.
“Indeed, there is broad scientific consensus around the benefits of nuts, and what seems to have appeared on billboards across London for some time has probably not surprised consumers,” Bucchini said. “The difference is that compliant brands have used authorized health claims to give a health-related message.”
He noted the ruling is part of a bigger trend that “pays less and less attention to the NHCR (Nutrition and Health Claims Register) and its rules while being cavalier with medicinal claims.”
Instagram ad made unauthorized health claims
The ASA ruled that Whitworths’ ads made unauthorized health claims because consumers would understand them as suggesting that eating nuts could improve health and extend life.
It also found that the other claims implied that nuts could prevent or reduce disease risk, which the CAP Code prohibits unless the claim is authorized.
Whitworths defended the scientific basis of its claims, saying the wording described associations rather than guaranteed health outcomes. However, it accepted that scientific evidence alone does not override CAP Code requirements and acknowledged that the claims may need to be changed if they were found not to comply with the rules.
The company said it would work with the ASA on compliant wording for future advertising.
Importance of authorized claims
The key issue, Bucchini explained, is that brands are trying to use health claims that are not listed on the GB register.
“It is like a driving licence; you either have or don’t have it. Whether you are a good driver or not, in itself, does not matter,” he said. “To make claims such as the ones they proposed, they would need to be made in reference to nuts. And, in any case, medicinal claims are not allowed on food.”
Bucchini noted that while some health claims are permitted for whole foods, brands must understand why those claims require authorization.
“The process was put in place so the evidence could be independently evaluated before it is presented to consumers,” he added.
Advice for brands
Bucchini advised that for whole food brands seeking to promote nutritional value, they can check whether an authorized claim exists for the whole food, and if not, assess whether its nutrient composition supports an authorized claim.
Where no authorized claim exists, brands can still remind consumers of the food’s nutritional qualities without directly linking it to a specific health outcome; however, he advised brands to identify at least one authorized health claim for the nutrients in the whole food where possible.
“Sometimes, unauthorized health claims are a result of lack of imagination from the marketing teams, who prefer the easy way of breaching regulations,” Bucchini said.
Whitworths was contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.
