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- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday December 19 2000 13.18 GMT
The maker of Ribena Tooth Kind will today go to the high court to challenge an Advertising Standards Authority ruling that it made misleading claims about the product.
Drugs giant SmithKline Beecham has taken the authority's ruling to a judicial review because it believes it should be able to carry on claiming that the product does not cause tooth decay.
The ASA ruled in July that the company could not use the claim, "Ribena Tooth Kind does not encourage tooth decay", in its advertising.
The court case is being seen as a landmark case that could have widespread repercussions for all food and drink manufacturers.
Parental concern over claims about sugar, vitamin and additives in food and drink has intensified in the past decade and consumer groups will be keenly awaiting the Ribena verdict.
The ASA said it understood from expert advice that the sugar content of Ribena Tooth Kind had been lowered but not eliminated.
It concluded that meant the product was less likely to encourage tooth decay, but only if compared with sugary drinks.
SmithKline Beecham is claiming the watchdog was not equipped to evaluate its claims.
The ASA was not the first to take issue with Ribena's claims. A Which? magazine investigation last March criticised Ribena Tooth Kind, saying that it fell short of the healthy image that helped to sell it.
The court is expected to defer its decision until the new year.
