CARU Clears Kraft Kids' Sports Drink Claim

An advertising claim made by Kraft for its Capri Sun Sports drink has been substantiated after the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc., opened an inquiry into the claim.

The claim in question appeared in a full-page print ad that showed children playing soccer and read, "Hydrates better than water." Capri Sun Sport is marketed as a children's sports drink and comes in such flavors such as "thunder punch" and "berry ice."

The inquiry began after the ad came to CARU's attention during routine monitoring of children's print publications.

In response to the inquiry, Kraft provided CARU with a study conducted at the University of Georgia, which concluded that "Capri Sun Sport is more effective than water in keeping healthy, active children hydrated, by encouraging greater fluid intake and maintaining body weight, during exercise in the heat," CARU said in a statement.

Kraft also cited recommendations from the National Athletic Trainers' Association, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, suggesting that sports drinks encourage more drinking and are more able to reduce risk of dehydration than water, especially during prolonged intensive exercise, CARU said.