THE ADVERTISING Standards Authority, www.asa.org.uk has ordered Procter & Gamble to remove a claim that "8 out of 10 vets recommend Iams" from its advertising for the pet food brand.

The company has also been told to remove the statement "Voted No. 1 by vets" from future ads. The instructions were issued following a complaint, upheld by the ASA, that two magazine advertisements for Iams cat food were misleading.

The Iams claims were based on an independent survey of 334 vets carried out at the British Small Animal Veterinary Association Congress in April last year.

The ASA studied the survey and found that from a total selection of 11 main dry cat food brands, only 31% of the participating vets had recommended Iams - and two other brands had more recommendations.

Iams claimed that its results referred to dry cat foods available in supermarkets, (the other two brands were only available in pet food shops), but the ASA said this had not been made clear in its advertising.

A further complaint that Iams' advertising appeared to show that the BSAVA had endorsed the brand, was not upheld by the ASA.