SOUTHAMPTON PCT CLAIMS CRITICISED BY ADVERTISING STANDARDS AUTHORITY

Southampton PCT has recently been instructed by the Advertising Standards Authority to remove all references from its published material to one of the claims made during the water fluoridation consultation. This follows official complaints made by three members of Hampshire Against Fluoridation and UK Councils Against Fluoridation about misleading claims in advertisements by the PCT to promote water fluoridation.
During the consultation, the PCT claimed in their advertisements that “By topping it up to one part of fluoride per one million parts of water, it would be possible to make a major difference to the teeth of adults and children locally, and for future generations” The ASA’s scientific experts ruled that there was no good quality evidence to support this statement. Consequently, the PCT have agreed not to repeat these claims and have also agreed to consult with the CAP Copy Advice team on future claims relating to fluoride.
HAF Chairman Stephen Peckham said “We have always argued that the PCT and SHA made exaggerated claims about water fluoridation that were not based on good evidence. The fact that the PCT have now had to promise the ASA not to repeat these statements about making a major difference to adults removes one of the key arguments made by the PCT and SHA for imposing the scheme.”
During the consultation PCT staff repeatedly said that water fluoridation would help “everyone” and the SHA in its consultation document also stated that water fluoridation benefits adults - despite the lack of evidence to support such statements.
Stephen Peckham added “It is likely that many people were influenced by these claims during the consultation and may have given support to the scheme thinking it would benefit them. The truth is that there are no such benefits. The fact that the PCT willingly withdrew this claim must also raise serious questions about other statements they made to promote water fluoridation to local people.”
Following the PCT’s assurance not to repeat this claim, the ASA have dropped this particular clause from their final ruling which is published today ( 21 April 2010).