McDonald's broke advert rules claiming french fries only contain Dutch potatoes and salt

McDonald’s broke Dutch advertising rules by claiming its french fries are made of nothing but potatoes and a pinch of salt in ads in the newspaper and radio in March, the Advertising Code Commission ruled in a case brought by Foodwatch.

The advertisement, published in the Volkskrant on March 12 this year, states, translated from Dutch: “The secret of our French Fries? Nothing at all (except a pinch of salt). McDonald’s French Fries are made from the tastiest potatoes, mainly from Dutch soil. And nothing else is added to those potatoes… except a pinch of salt.” A radio ad was similar.

The ingredient information on McDonald’s website shows that its French Fries contain more ingredients, including non-hydrogenated vegetable oil, stabilizer, disodium diphosphate, and dextrose.

McDonald’s argued that the NVWA Food Labeling Manual explicitly states that it is not required to publish the full list of ingredients in an advertisement for foodstuffs. The company said it publishes ingredients and nutritional values on its website to be transparent about the content and composition of its product. It also believes that the average consumer will understand that fries are made from potatoes and that frying oil, which consists of several ingredients, is part of the preparation process.

But Foodwatch argued that the ad was still misleading. The ad explicitly states that the French Fries contain “nothing at all” other than potatoes and salt. The average consumer will interpret this as an explicit claim, Foodwatch argued, adding that, on average, consumers don’t expect to find dextrose in their fries.

“Due to the absolute nature of the advertising statement, it gives an incorrect impression about the composition of the product,” the Advertising Code Commission ruled. It recommended that McDonald’s change the advertisement to be more accurate.