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Heinz falsely marketing Shredz toddler products as healthy, says watchdog - The Guardian

Food companies who make misleading health claims on childrens products have been put on notice by Australias consumer watchdog, which is taking the multinational Heinz to court for promoting its sugary Shredz toddler products as healthy.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has started legal proceedings in the federal court against HJ Heinz Company Australia Ltd in relation to the food snacks marketed to one- to three-year-olds.

It alleges Heinz is falsely marketing these products as healthy options for young children, when they are not.

Heinz said it strenuously denied the ACCC allegations and looked forward to defending its position. Heinz takes labelling of products very seriously and complies with all Australian labelling and food laws, it said, adding that the product was no longer on the market.

The Shredz product range includes three varieties peach, apple and veg, berries, apple and veg, and strawberry and apple with chia seeds. They are predominantly made from fruit-juice concentrate and pastes.

These products contain over 60% sugar, which is significantly higher than that of natural fruit and vegetables for example, an apple contains approximately 10% sugar, said the ACCC chairman, Rod Sims.

The ACCC also alleges the Heinz Shredz products are likely to inhibit the development of a childs taste for natural fruit and vegetables.

Particular issue has been taken with the products packaging, which features prominent images of fresh fruit and vegetables and statements such as 99% fruit and veg.

Related: Sugar hit: we can't keep ignoring the evidence about soft drinks | Leanne Wells and Michael Moore

Sims says major companies have an obligation under Australian consumer law to ensure products health claims do not mislead the public.

The legal action has been roundly welcomed by dieticians and obesity prevention advocates, including the Obesity Policy Coalition.

The OPC is pleased to see such strong action from the ACCC against Heinz for potentially misleading parents who are simply trying to do their best to feed their children nutritious food, said its executive manager, Jane Martin.

Its very difficult for parents to know which foods are healthy and which arent, particularly for toddlers. I think parents are really trying to make the right choices and they need good, clear, honest information about the nature of the products, Martin said.

Many parents would be shocked to know that just one 18g serve of Shredz contains almost an entire days worth of added sugar for a two-year-old.

Paediatric dietitian and nutritionist Hanan Saleh agrees, and says packaged snacks, including Little Kids Shredz, are not a healthy alternative to a piece of fruit.

When it comes to making healthy food choices for children, Saleh says parents really need to go back to basics or paddock to plate.

Parents should always think twice before picking up anything in packages, Saleh said.

The average piece of fruit only contains about 10g of sugar for every 100g and also has fibre and important vitamins and minerals.

The ACCC is seeking declarations, injunctions, pecuniary penalties, corrective notices and costs.

ReachLocal Introduces ReachSocial Ads(TM), a Programmatic Facebook Advertising Solution Managed by Certified ... - Nasdaq

ReachSocial Ads Delivers a High-quality and Affordable Technology-based Solution for Local Businesses Wanting a Greater Return From their Facebook Advertising

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., April 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ReachLocal Inc. (NASDAQ:RLOC), a leader in powering online marketing for local businesses, today announced the availability of ReachSocial Ads, a new local Facebook advertising solution designed to help local businesses leverage the power of the world's leading social media site. Coupled with ReachLocal's broader services, like ReachCast for content creation and social media page management, this solution helps to round out business owners' full digital marketing suite.



Facebook usage continues to grow, with 156 million users in the U.S. alone. In a recent survey of SMBs, 82 percent stated they manage a social network presence, but only 31 percent have tried Facebook advertising. Of those who have not tried Facebook advertising, most want help creating engaging ad creative and understanding the unique targeting capabilities of Facebook.



With ReachSocial Ads, business owners can feel confident with a solution that brings them best-practice ad creative, robust audience targeting options, expert campaign management and measureable results aligned to their unique business goals. The new offering includes:

A Complete Facebook Marketing Plan: ReachLocal experts work with business owners to set up a customized Facebook advertising plan specific to their budget and marketing goals. Robust Audience Targeting Capabilities: Business owners can grow demand for their business via targeted audience selections based on geography and demographics. ReachLocal also offers custom campaigns that include multiple audience targeting options, including predictive affinity technology, which adds enhanced ways of reaching new audiences on Facebook. Custom Advertising Creative: Ads are built specifically to meet each business' goals, including unique advertising creative, branded messages and videos, and actionable calls to action. Facebook Expertise:ReachLocal's Facebook Blueprint-certified marketing experts create compelling ads using best practices, monitor ad performance, and update and optimize each campaign to reach the prospects who are most likely to become customers.All ad-driven actions by consumers are tracked and reported to clients monthly for visibility into how ads are performing.

"What ReachLocal does best is making sure that your business is present wherever consumers are spending time. With our new offering, business owners can show a more personal side of their business and engage with customers in a way that's distinguished from traditional advertising," said Sharon Rowlands

, ReachLocal's CEO. "Unlike self-service solutions that require considerable time, effort and expertise, or agencies that require larger budgets, ReachSocial Adsoffers a complete solution with technology and cost-effective access to service from experts to help you grow your business with Facebook."



Pricing and Availability

This offering currently is available in the U.S. and Canada. For pricing and other information contact us at (888) 966-9771 or visit our website.



AboutReachLocal, Inc.

ReachLocal, Inc. (NASDAQ:RLOC) helps local businesses grow and operate their business better with leading technology and expert service for our clients' lead generation and conversion. ReachLocal is headquartered in Woodland Hills, Calif. and operates in four regions: Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.

Media Contact:ReachLocal, Inc.Amber Seikaly

Global Vice President, Marketing and Communications(214) 294-0242amber.seikaly@reachlocal.com



Source: ReachLocal, Inc.

Web Design Secrets That You Need To Learn

Once they seriously think about it they become discouraged, although a subject like web design seems interesting to a lot of people. If you feel overwhelmed and and don't know where to start, you should take a few minutes to read this article and find out more about the skills you need to acquire.

Don't force users to install strange BHOs. Many tech-savvy users won't do it. Common offenders include unusual video players, image viewers, and platforms for interactive games. For most standard use cases, there is a trusted plugin, such as Windows Media Player or even Flash) that will do what you want without driving away users.

Include an easy way for visitors to search your site content. People who are seeking something in particular are bound to be interested in finding a search box upon reaching your site. They may just move on to another website immediately if you lack one. Put the search box in the upper right hand corner of the page because this is usually the first place people look for one.

Be wary of web hosting companies who claim that they offer unlimited bandwidth to their customers. Usually there is something that is written in the small print that is far different than that. In many cases people end up having problems when it comes to fair use policies.

Keep the sizes of your files and images small. Excessive loading times are a death knell for any site. The larger the files are that must load, the longer a user's load time is going to be. If the page doesn't start to load within the first few seconds of opening your page, most users will click away.

For your image tags, always try to include a brief description in the ALT attribute. Not only is this good for search engine optimization, but it is also beneficial to the sight-impaired users who rely on screen readers to describe image tag contents. Make your description short and as descriptive as possible.

When designing your site, try to come up with three or four keywords that you expect users to input into search engines as they try to find your page. These keywords should then be repeated frequently throughout the title, page body and description meta tag. This will make it easier for users to locate your site on the web.

Use a tracking service, rather than displaying your visitor counter for all to read. Many websites still display their counters, yet they do not serve any real purpose. There are many high quality tracking services available, and some are even free. Use these instead of showing off how many people visit you.

Watch the amount of flashy multimedia that is on your site. Don't overdo it with a bunch of "extras". Flash multimedia and graphics may appear enticing, but these may make it difficult for visitors to find the desired information from the site, particularly if they're viewing your site from a non-Flash compatible device.

Minimize the amount of clicking or scrolling visitors must do to access information. The more a user has to click or scroll around to find the information they seek, the more likely they are to give up looking for it. By combining pages that have content that falls below this number of words, aim for having at least 400 words on every page of your site.

Practice with a very basic layout to understand the basics of web design. This allows you to get comfortable with the general processes of web design in an easy-to-understand environment you can always move on to more complex layouts as you gain experience.

Test your site early on and often. It is essential to do usability tests early in the developing phase. Keep testing and improving as the design nears completion.

Don't rely solely on the design tools provided by the host to build your site. By adding your own touches beyond the basics that the host provides, work your own individuality into your website.

Understand that when you first start out that it's going to take time for your site to become popular. You can try your best to generate as much traffic to your site as possible but make sure that you know what to expect so that you can continuously adapt your strategies accordingly.

You might want to look up videos online if you become lost at all during your web design process. You can find a lot of videos on places like youtube which give you step by step tutorials on what you should be doing during your web designing processes.

If you post videos on your website, remember that some people's connections aren't as fast as yours. A video that is converted to 5,000 kb/s will load faster on some computers, but it might be faster than some Internet connections allow for. People are likely to leave the page before it even loads.

If your site has a logo, you want to be sure that when you click it you go right to your homepage. This type of clickable logo has become a standard expectation from most Internet users. It's frustrating to click on a logo and have nothing happen, and this saves you from adding a 'home' link. Having a logo that is clickable will make site navigation easier.

Don't overuse graphics. Pictures and other interesting graphics can be fun and visually pleasing, but keep in mind that those things take a long time to load on a site visitor's computer. Opinions are also different, so what you think is a great visual touch might be unattractive to someone else. Keep graphics simple and site visitors will better concentrate on yourservices and products, and content.

Make good use of "white space." Although not always white, it is merely a blank space within a web page. Designing web pages with a how viewers would see your site is key, therefore you don't want to clutter your website with lots of pictures and text. White space allows visitors to easily scan your pages and feel comfortable on your site.

As this article previously mentioned, designing websites is perceived by many to be a challenging endeavor. However, web design becomes much easier for people who have the best knowledge and information on how to design websites as efficiently and creatively as possible. Apply this article's tips, and you'll be designing websites in no time!