Advertising for food and dietary supplements in the print media in South Africa

Abstract

ObjectiveTo survey advertisements for food and beverages, slimming products, and dietary supplements in South African magazines.MethodsWe examined the 5 most popular magazines over one year. They are in 3 major languages (English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa).ResultsWe recorded 959 advertisements; 776 (80.9%) were for food and beverages, 86 (9.0%) for slimming products, and 97 (10.1%) for dietary supplements. The most common advertisements for food and beverages were for restaurants (n=126), supermarkets (119), alcoholic beverages (79), cereal products (59), confectionery items (59), vegetables (40), and fruit or fruit juices (29). Thirty‐nine of them (4.1%) carried health claims; these were most common for dairy products (14), followed by non‐alcoholic beverages (7), and meat and poultry (6). The most commonly mentioned health benefits were for healthy growth (18), performance claims (13), therapeutic claims (9), and non‐serious risk reduction claims (6), and for and energy (6). The majority of health claims referred to iron (17), B vitamins (12), vitamins and minerals (11), essential fatty acids (11), and calcium (9).ConclusionA fraction of advertisements were for healthy products (such as vegetables, fruit, and low‐fat milk) but the large majority were for unhealthy foods. Misleading advertisements for slimming products and dietary supplements are becoming common.