Kingsmill drops star-spangled wholegrain claim

A complaint by Real Bread Campaign to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has resulted in ABF Grain Products promising to stop claiming Kingsmill 50 / 50 has ‘50% of your daily whole grain in 2 slices’.

The ASA advised the Campaign: ‘We have also reminded [Kingsmill] that this assurance must apply across their wider advertising, and to notify retailers that this claim can no longer appear.’

Real Bread Campaign coordinator Chris Young said: ‘We thank the ASA for their intervention and we welcome the result. This serves as a reminder of the value of legal standards and underlines our long-standing assertion that the term wholegrain needs defining in law.’

The complaint

The Campaign highlighted that:

• rather than official UK guidance, Kingsmill had based its claim on the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
• the term ‘whole grain’ does not appear in the Great Britain Nutrition and Health Claims Register, so using it in this context breached retained Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods.

Before deciding to complain to the ASA, the Campaign had suggested to Kingsmill that the company replace the marketing claim based on ‘whole grain’ with a factual statement of fibre content - 4.7g of fibre per 100g or 1.9g per slice, for example.

Freedom of choice

Rather than telling people what they should and shouldn’t eat, the Real Bread Campaign has always advocated freedom of choice. The Campaign works to help ensure that more people have the chance to choose Real Bread and, more generally, that everyone is able to make better-informed buying choices. 

This work includes the Real Bread for All initiative; and lobbying for an Honest Crust Act of updated and improved composition, labelling and marketing standards.

The Campaign is currently seeking funding for a schools project to put Real Bread knowledge and skills on the timetable, and kick additives from lunchtime baguettes, sandwiches, bagels, wraps etc. 

Was the ad banned?

The ASA explained: ‘In a formal investigation, if the ASA Council decides that an ad is in breach of the [CAP] Code, the advertisers are told to withdraw or amend it. Because Kingsmill has already assured us that the advertising you complained about will be amended, we consider there is little to be gained from continuing with a formal investigation, which would achieve that same outcome.’

The ASA went on to note: ‘We consider that this will resolve the complaint without referring the matter to the ASA Council, and will consequently be closing our file.’ As such, full details of the case (ASA ref. A25-1289336) and its informal resolution don’t appear in the rulings page of the ASA website.

The trading standards case

On 6 June 2025, the Campaign wrote again to the trading standards officers at Westminster, Buckinghamshire and Surrey, and London Borough of Tower Hamlets councils, asking for whoever had taken responsibility for this case to confirm they would ensure that the company also removed the claim from all marketing that falls outside the ASA’s remit.

On 11 June 2025, Buckinghamshire and Surrey wrote: 'Discussions have already begun with the company regarding the claims you identified and will continue within the scope of the Primary Authority Partnership, with the appropriate advice being provided to the company to ensure ongoing compliance with relevant legislation. These discussions will remain private between the company and us the Primary Authority and we will take any appropriate actions as deemed necessary in line with the Primary Authority Scheme and our published enforcement policy.'

We replied that we looked forward to receiving details of the outcome of the council's investigation once they have completed that process, asking if that would coincide with ASA’s publication date (18 June 2025) of the resolution of the parallel complaint.

Kingsmill is a brand name used by Allied Bakeries, a division of ABF Grain Products, owned by retail, grocery, ingredients / additives, sugar and agricultural multinational Associated British Foods plc.

Updates

...will appear here.

See also

• A wholegrain of truth?
• What's 'wholemeal' hiding?
• Wholemeal bread