The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) lambasted the Vegetarian Society's press campaign, suggesting it is easier to exclude meat from the diet than to have a cancer surgically removed.

The ruling is another blow to the advertising efforts of environmental pressure groups that are increasingly falling foul of the strict rules governing what can be said in their promotional literature.

The ASA has upheld 37 complaints in the past 12 months about inaccurate claims in campaigns by environmental pressure groups and charities.

The Vegetarian Society's advertisements showed photographs of people with horrific surgical scars carrying the headline, "It's much easier to cut out meat."

It suggested vegetarians were up to 40% less likely than meat eaters to develop cancer. The ASA said in an adjudication to be published on Wednesday that the advertisements did not make it clear that the links between eating red meat and cancer were not yet convincing or universally accepted.

The authority has upheld complaints by the meat industry and cancer charities arguing that the Vegetarian Society has exaggerated the connection between eating red meat and cancer and widened this link to all types of meat.

The ASA has also ruled that the Vegetarian Society misrepresented government information by implying that official dietary advice is to stop eating red meat.

A Vegetarian Society spokesman said many pressure groups believed they were being unfairly treated. The ASA, however, argued that, although charitires were allowed some leeway when their subject justified a shocking approach, this did not give them carte blanche to publish inaccurate matter.

- The Sunday Times, London.

Webmaster's note:
I feel that this article's headline is misleading, since it suggests that the connection between red meat and cancer has been dismissed. Simply because the link may not yet have been conclusively proven, does not mean that it does not exist. Research into the topic is still underway. Recall that the link between smoking and cancer took many years to finally come to light. However, I do feel that any pressure group needs to be very careful in choosing the content of their promotional material: it can often do more damage than good to make claims which are not backed up.