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Completely tangential, but ain't this a great story! Two little girls brought down a lying giant of the drug world!

Ribena misled public over vitamin C
27/03/2007 11:41:41 AM


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The multinational company which makes the iconic drink Ribena has admitted its advertisements misled the public about the drink's vitamin C content.

Glaxosmithkline admitted in a New Zealand court 15 representative charges covering offences between 2002 and 2006.

It admitted 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 is pushing for a fine between $NZ275,000 ($A244,000) and $NZ350,000 ($A310,000) and corrective television advertising. Glaxosmithkline wants a fine of about $NZ60,000 ($A53,000) and no corrective television advertising.

Glaxosmithkline will be sentenced on Tuesday afternoon.

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 Auckland District Court when the charges were admitted.