Food ads get thumbs down from dietitians

Quebec dieticians are targeting companies they say are setting bad examples with their advertising.

The Quebec order of dietitians handed out prizes Tuesday for the best and worst food commercials.

One of the order's "rotten apple" awards when to a high-profile TV ad for Nutella. The ad begins with a shot of the chocolate-hazelnut spread being put on toast. Then, a boy is shown energetically playing soccer.

The voiceover is a woman saying she is both a mother and a teacher. She details the good ingredients in the spread: skim milk, hazelnuts, and a touch of cocoa.

She says the spread is part of a nutritious breakfast. But there's no mention of the large portions of fat and sugar in the spread, the order points out.

• VIDEO: View the TV advertisements

"The environment in which we live influences our choices and we're noting the enormous presence of those messages that are conflicting regarding good health, good food, and good eating," said Paul-Guy Duhamel, president of the Ordre professionnel des diététistes du Québec.

The dietitians have also handed out "golden apple" awards.

The winners were a magazine campaign for eggs, that shows giant eggs skateboarding, and a television advertisement showing wholesome-looking children eating sugar-free fruit purees.

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Winner Canadian Egg Marketing Agency		Gourmet McCormick McCormick Canada		Sunkist Sunkist Growers Inc.
Diet Crush Breuvages Cadbury Canada Inc.		Ruffles Frito Lay Canada		Minute Maid Light Coca-Cola Company		Xenical Hoffmann-La Roche Inc.
Similac Advance Abbott Laboratories		Splenda Mc Neil Consumer Health Care		Becel Light Unilever Canada		Chewy Dipps Quaker Oats PepsiCo Canada Inc.