Online adverts for nutrition brands Zoe and Huel have been banned following “misleading” endorsements from celebrity entrepreneur Steven Bartlett.

The sponsored posts on Facebook, which appeared in February and March, included quotes from the Dragon’s Den star complimenting the products.

However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has since banned the adverts after they failed to disclose Bartlett’s financial involvements with the brands, as an investor of Zoe and a director at Huel.

A Huel ad on 18 February featured an image of the brand’s Daily Green drink with a quote from Bartlett that stated “This is Huel’s best product” and a caption which read: “Ever wondered what Steven Bartlett actually thinks of Huel’s Daily Greens? Well there you have it…”

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Huel told the authority that when celebrities endorsed products, consumers generally understood they did so in the context of a commercial relationship with the company behind the product.

However, the ASA said: “We considered that Bartlett’s directorship was material to consumers’ understanding of the ads, and so relevant for them in making an informed decision about the advertised product.

“Because the ads omitted material information about Steven Bartlett’s position as a director at Huel, we concluded they were likely to mislead.”

Meanwhile, the Zoe advert included a photo of Bartlett with the text: “If you haven’t tried Zoe yet, give it a shot. It might just change your life.”

The nutrition science start-up, which has formed tie-ups with M&S and Waitrose over the past year, said that the average consumer understood that Bartlett was appearing in the ad in connection with a commercial relationship and that his participation in the advertising earned him some financial reward.

However, the regulator said: “Because the ad omitted material information about Steven Bartlett being an investor in Zoe, we concluded that it was misleading.”

The ASA ruled that “many consumers” were unlikely to know from the ads that Bartlett had a commercial relationship with the nutrition brands and may have thought he was providing endorsement from an unbiased perspective.

As a result, it found that one advert for Zoe and two adverts for Huel were likely to mislead or were misleading to consumers and ordered that they should not appear again.

A Zoe spokesperson told Sky News: “Neither the [advertising] code nor any of the ASA’s guidance suggests that it is necessary to go into granular detail about the precise nature of an ambassador’s commercial relationship with a brand.

“We respect the ASA’s work in upholding transparency in online advertising and have provided a written assurance that it will not appear again in that form. We would welcome further guidance to bring clarity on the effect of this decision”.