The Valencian Association of Farmers (AVA-ASAJA) has harshly criticized the latest ad aired by Don Simón, a brand of the García Carrión business group, which states that oranges start losing their properties once they're harvested from the trees. "This is this company's latest attack on the consumption of fresh oranges with the commercial desire to promote the purchase of its industrial juices," AVA-ASAJA stated.
The agricultural organization has filed a complaint with Autocontrol (the independent self-regulatory body of the advertising industry in Spain) so that they investigate and force Don Simón to withdraw this campaign, which goes against the citrus farms that sell fresh citrus and that have allowed Spain to establish itself as the world's leading exporter of oranges.
"Making juices like the one that Don Simón sells requires a high-temperature treatment that affects the organoleptic qualities of the fruits, especially their flavor. Meanwhile, the juice that is squeezed just before it is consumed is more natural, has a better flavor, and can promote the consumption of zero-kilometer products if done with oranges grown in our territory, which results in a lower environmental impact when compared to the polluting emissions generated by transporting the fruit from thousands of kilometers away," stated AVA-ASAJA based on the conclusions of the Valencian Institute of Agricultural Research (IVIA)
That's why the organization recommends the consumption of fresh oranges: "The healthiest juice you can drink is the one that you make by squeezing fresh oranges. You can drink it whenever you want because the skin allows you to preserve the quality of the orange until you cut it in half for consumption. Meanwhile, Don Simón specifies that you only have five days to drink their juice once you open their tetra brick packaging, which must be then kept refrigerated and stirred before serving."
"This isn't the first time that the citrus sector has accused Don Simón of designing confusing advertising campaigns, some of which were rejected by Autocontrol. In 2007 this out-of-court arbitration body forced this firm to remove from its advertisements the reference that its juices were 'one hundred percent natural'. In 2009, AVA-ASAJA complained about two other ads issued by the company. The first one stated that its freshly-squeezed juices had more nutritional properties than fresh oranges. The second ad stated that it was cheaper to buy their refrigerated juices than to buy the citrus directly from the fruit store.
"These messages might seem absurd to informed consumers -because they are-, but they do a lot of damage to Spanish citriculture," AVA-ASAJA stated.
For more information:
AVA-ASAJA
Calle Guillem de Castro, 79
46008 Valencia (España)
Tel.: +34 96 380 46 06
info@avaasaja.org
www.avaasaja.org