Food and beverage industry: food descriptors guideline to the Trade Practices Act

This guideline provides a trade practices perspective on industry representations about its food and beverage products. It is an important industry sector, with estimated sales of $92 billion per annum. The guideline is to assist food and beverage businesses in understanding the law as it generally applies to this area, together with examples of the types of claims businesses can, and cannot, make about their products and the context(s) in which such claims can be made.

The guideline:

• explains why the Trade Practices Act 1974 (the Act) and the ACCC are relevant to food and beverage labelling issues.
• provides practical guidance on what manufacturers and suppliers should do to minimise the risk of breaching laws administered by the ACCC
• discusses specific food and beverage descriptors that may raise issues under the Act
• looks at remedies available for breaches of Part V of the Act.