A YORK business has been told to stop using an advert after being unable to fully back up its claims.

The Advertising Standards Authority investigated a direct mail advert for FoodScan food intolerence testing by YorkTest, based at York Science Park, which included testimonials by children.

The adverts claim a five-year-old boy called Michael had such serious hyperactivity he was unable to go to school full-time but “after taking the FoodScan 113 Test, Michael discovered he was intolerant to a range of foods”.

One testimony states: “Itchy Skin – Sarah was only four years but from the age of two months to 11 months she was having three bandage changes a day and a tub of steroid cream applied.”

“Within three weeks of the test being taken, she was sleeping better and the eczema had gone. She changed her diet and began reading labelled foods more carefully including salads, fish and meat”.

The agency upheld complaints questioning whether the testimonials were genuine, in particular because those related to hyperactivity and itchy skin implied four and five-year-old children had understood their own test results, read food labels or controlled their own diet as a result of the testing.

It also found claims that the food intolerance tests could be used to treat weight problems, arthritis and tiredness were misleading and could not be substantiated.

A statement released by the agency stated: “The ASA noted YorkTest did not submit evidence to demonstrate that the testimonials in the ad were genuine or to substantiate the efficacy claims made in the testimonials. In the absence of such evidence, we considered the testimonials had not been demonstrated to be genuine and that the efficacy claims were misleading. We therefore concluded that the ad breached the code.

“The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told YorkTest to ensure they were in a position to demonstrate that future testimonials were genuine. We also told them to ensure they held adequate evidence to support future efficacy claims.”

In response to the ASA investigation, YorkTest said the testimonials were based on genuine feedback from their customers but said some of those testimonials were from many years ago and they did not necessarily still have documentary evidence to support all of them.

They said they had withdrawn the advert and would only use testimonials with suitable evidence.