Fonterra claim challenged

No nutritional benefits of milk in light-proof bottles, Consumer NZ finds

There's little difference in nutrient content between major milk brands, despite claims light-proofed containers protect the vitamins in milk, Consumer NZ testing reveals.

Fonterra-owned Anchor launched light-proof bottles four years ago, in response to research showing 'light can cause damage to vitamin B2 and A”, the company said on its website.

Anchor stated: 'This isn't good. Why? Well, because vitamin A is important in aiding healthy eyesight and immune system, whereas vitamin B2 helps your body turn food into fuel helping you feel less tired and run down.”

Consumer NZ testing of five trim milk brands – Anchor, Home Brand, Meadow Fresh, Pams and Signature Range – shows miniscule differences in vitamin A and B2 content. Meadow Fresh sells its milk in 'semi-opaque” bottles, the other three brands have transparent containers.

The tiny differences between the brands had no significant impact on the overall vitamin intake of a person eating a balanced diet, says Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin.

'When we asked Fonterra for evidence of the nutritional superiority of milk stored in a light-proof bottle, it agreed there wasn't any,” says Sue.

'We think consumers reading the company's claims about vitamin content might be misled into thinking Anchor milk in light-proof bottles has a dietary advantage over its competitors.”

Fonterra has now changed the description on the Anchor website to refer to the taste difference of milk in light-proof bottles instead of a nutritional benefit.

'There's little excuse for a company the size of Fonterra to be using claims that are unclear or may potentially mislead consumers,” says Sue.

Consumer NZ tested varieties of trim milk as experiments referred to on Anchor's website concluded lower-fat milk was the most susceptible to vitamin A degradation.

Full test results and more information is available at the consumer website and in the August edition of Consumer magazine.

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3 comments

Fonterra - dirty, misleading & false marketing

Posted on 11-08-2017 14:30 | By NZAdventurer

Whats new! So much for the "innovation" of the lightproof bottle. In my opinion, Fonterra have been controlling and monopolising the entire dairy industry in the name of "a collective" for ages, pushing and buying other competitors out, copying others ideas, "aquiring" the bulk of supermarket shelf space and more. Why do New Zealanders pay top dollar for milk, which is more expensive than many other places in the world? I'm told it is to do with the international commodity price, yet these guys flap about having to pay anything for water (which is also an international commodity) very one-sided. All the warm & fuzzy Fonterra TV ads try to convince us that they are the good guys that have kiwi interests at heart, while all they are interested in is PROFIT first and foremost! Dont even get me started on what they have done to the environment.


Another one

Posted on 11-08-2017 16:33 | By maildrop

More lies from NZ companies. The Commerce Commission needs to be getting stuck into these companies.


They don't care.

Posted on 12-08-2017 20:03 | By GS

Fonterra only cares about gouging as much money out of the domestic market as possible. Why else would we be paying more for a block of butter than a whole tub of icecream?They don't care that those bottles aren't recyclable (technically they are, but only with specialist equipment that nobody has, and the resulting plastic is low quality and nobody buys it to make stuff out of). They don't care about anything except making profit.


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