Dairy producer Lactalis Australia has paid $59,400 in fines after being hit with three infringement notices by the country’s consumer watchdog.
A subsidiary of the world’s largest fresh dairy company, Lactalis, was alleged to have mislabelled some of its products as “fresh” milk, despite containing “substantial amounts” of powdered ingredients.
The products in question were the Golden North “Country Fresh” and Ferguson Valley “WA Dairy Fresh” milk products, both of which were two litres in volume.
An investigation by the ACCC into the country’s milk processing industry brought about the allegations. The commission said that Lactalis has now removed the word “fresh” from both of the products in question.
“Consumers should be able to trust product labels as accurate descriptions of the products they are buying, particularly for everyday groceries such as milk,” ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said.
“We were very concerned that prominent ‘fresh’ claims on these products may have been misleading, as consumers would not expect fresh milk to contain substantial amounts of powdered, reconstituted ingredients.”
In 2022, Lactalis was ordered to pay $950,000 in fines for contraventions of the Dairy Code, following a case that was brought before the Federal Court. The latest fine, the ACCC said, does not amount to Lactalis admitting to breaches of Australian Consumer Law.
“All food processors, including dairy companies, are on notice about the importance of truthfulness and accuracy with their packaging and labelling, and that they risk serious consequences if they make misleading claims to consumers,” Keogh added.
