Campbell to Pay Calif. on Ad Claims

Campbell Soup Co. has agreed to pay California and eight other states a total of $315,000 over disputed advertising claims about the health benefits of some of its soups, under terms of a court settlement announced today.

Wisconsin Atty. Gen. Donald J. Hanaway said Campbell Soup, of Camden, N.J., entered into an agreement that requires it to pay each state $35,000 in costs and to change certain advertising practices.

He said the attorneys general contended that Campbell’s ads made high-fiber claims about certain soup products that were not high in fiber, calcium source claims about soups that alone are not a good source of calcium, and “generally mischaracterized the health effects of Campbell’s soup products.”

Wisconsin worked with attorneys general of California, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York and Texas in reaching the settlement, Hanaway said.