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ASA Bans Coffee Brand's Telomere and Anti-Ageing Claims

The Advertising Standards Authority has banned an Instagram advertisement from Higham Miller Coffee Ltd, trading as Exhale Healthy Coffee, over claims that its coffee slowed cellular ageing and protected DNA. The ruling, reference A26-1330390, was published on 22 July 2026 and upheld both issues raised. The paid post, which ran on 19 February 2026, featured the company's founder saying moderate coffee drinkers had telomeres equivalent to people five years younger, and described the product as the healthiest coffee on earth with amazing health benefits for gut and brain health. The ASA found none of those claims appear on the GB Nutrition and Health Claims Register, which lists the only wording a food or supplement business in Great Britain may use to link a product to a health effect. It cited CAP Code rules 15.1, 15.1.1, 15.2 and 15.6.3, the last of which covers endorsement by a health professional. Exhale confirmed the advertisement was no longer running.

The register decides, not the study

The register is the operative test, not the strength of the underlying evidence. Jerome Le Bloch, head of scientific affairs at Foodchain ID, told NutraIngredients that "even well-conducted research cannot be translated into commercial health claims unless those claims have been formally authorized under the applicable legislation". The advertisement had pointed to observational research on coffee drinkers and telomere length. Citing a study does not authorise a claim. Rule 15.6.3 was engaged separately because the post named the brand's chief science officer, a doctor, in a way the ASA read as professional endorsement. Great Britain and Northern Ireland have kept separate registers since Brexit, so wording cleared for one is not automatically cleared for the other.

What this means for your supplement routine

Most supplement marketing online would not survive this test. Where a product page tells you an ingredient slows ageing, protects your cells or fights something, that is almost certainly wording the GB register does not carry. Authorised claims are deliberately dull: a nutrient contributes to the normal function of something, and only where the product actually contains enough of it. The dull wording is the compliant wording, and treating it as a signal of honesty rather than of weak marketing is a reasonable filter when you are comparing brands, whether across the Perqen supplement catalogue or anywhere else. It also means a brand that quietly states less is not necessarily offering less.

How Perqen members save

Perqen competes on price rather than on claims. Membership costs £4.99 a month or £29.99 a year and unlocks member pricing across the whole range, with the arithmetic set out on the Perqen membership page.

This article reports published news and research and is for information only. Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied diet or medical care, and no product mentioned is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Speak to your GP or pharmacist before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking prescribed medicines.

Sources

Originally reported by Advertising Standards Authority. This article has been reviewed by Dr Tosin.

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