The advertising watchdog has cleared Heinz of misleading the public with adverts for Farmers' Market soup.

Sustain, Hampshire Farmers Markets, The Real Jam and Chutney Co, Pollen Organics and 19 members of the public challenged whether a TV advert for the soup exploited the reputation of Farmers' Markets.

The adverts - both TV and press - featured a strapline "Taste the Countryside" and the complainants felt that they implied that the ingredients used in the soups came from farmers' markets.

In response, Heinz said it believed consumers understood that its products were sold by a multinational on a very large scale.

They argued that the practical impossibility of sourcing ingredients for the soups from Farmers' Markets would be obvious to consumers.

The Advertising Standards Authority said the ad was unlikely to mislead consumers.