Leon may have to change name of superfood salad after advertising row

Leon: The chain is in an advertising row over its salads
Leon
Mark Chandler26 October 2016

Restaurant chain Leon may have to change the name of its Original Superfood Salad after a row with the advertising watchdog.

The popular menu item, billed as "food for the future" and filled with brocoli, peas, cucumber and quinoa, has been on the menu in one form or another since 2004.

But the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled whether the product actually included health benefits had not been substantiated.

Leon argued that the term "superfood" had acted as a brand name for a number of products since 2004, before current regulations on the word's use existed, rather than making specific health claims.

Because of this, the company claimed it did not need to back-up the word "superfood" with health or nutritional information.

But the ASA rejected Leon's argument, saying the current use of the word "superfood" could not be made again.

In a ruling, they wrote: "The claim must not appear again in its current form.

"We told Leon Restaurants Ltd not to make references to general benefits of food for overall good health or health-related well-being in brand names unless those claims were accompanied by a permitted health or nutrition claim."

A spokesman for Leon said: "We created the original Superfood Salad in 2004, and it has since inspired many others.

"It would be a shame if the Leon superfood salad had to change its name. We respect the ASA process, and will be taking the next step of applying for an independent review.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in