Misleading Tesco vegan ads banned

TESCO’S adverts for its vegan “Plant Chef ” burgers have been banned after it was accused of making “misleading” claims by saying they were better for the environment than their meat equivalents.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said Tesco had implied buying Plant Chef burgers would “positively affect the environment” by suggesting that customers could “do their bit” for the environment by swapping to plant-based burgers.

In the adverts, a voiceover said: “We’ve lowered the price of dozens of our Plant Chef products because a little swap can make a difference to the planet.”

The ASA said: “We expected to see evidence that that was the case based on the full life cycle of the Plant Chef burger in comparison with a meat burger. However, we understood that Tesco did not hold any evidence in relation to the full lifecycle of any of the products in the Plant Chef range, or of the burger featured in the ads.”

It said it had concluded the “claims regarding their positive benefits to the planet had not been substantiated and were likely to mislead”.

A Tesco spokesman said the supermarket was “disappointed” by the outcome”.