Ribena maker fined over Vitamin C claims

The multinational company that makes Ribena has been fined a total of $NZ217,500 ($A192,900) after it admitted its advertisements misled the public about the drink's vitamin C content.

Glaxosmithkline was also ordered in the Auckland District Court on Tuesday to run corrective advertisements, in addition to a message on its website. Earlier in the day, the company admitted to 15 representative charges covering offences between 2002 and 2006.

It agreed that its cartoned ready to drink Ribena, which it claimed had 7mg of vitamin C per 100ml, in fact had no detectable vitamin C content.
The company also admitted it may have misled customers in advertisements saying the blackcurrants in Ribena syrup had four times the vitamin C of oranges.

The NZ Commerce Commission has been pushing for a fine between $NZ275,000 ($A244,000) and $NZ350,000 ($A310,000) and corrective television advertising. Glaxosmithkline had argued for a fine of $NZ60,000 ($A53,000) and no corrective television advertising.

The case was brought after a science experiment in 2004 by 14-year-old Auckland schoolgirls Jenny Suo and Anna Devathasan raised questions about the vitamin C content in Ribena.

The girls were in court on Tuesday.