GlaxoSmithKline Australia Pty Limited - s.87B undertaking

GlaxoSmithKline Australia Pty Limited (GSK Australia) provided court enforceable undertakings under section 87B of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (the Act) to the ACCC in relation to representations made in the marketing of its Ribena blackcurrant fruit drink products.

The ACCC had concerns that representations made on the packaging and promotional material for Ribena products were false or misleading and may breach sections 52, 53(a) and 53(c) of the Act. Specifically, these concerns related to:

• The Vitamin C content on the Nutrition Information panel of a number of Ribena Ready to Drink product labels, which claimed a higher amount of Vitamin C in the product than was the case.
• The phrase used in the promotion of Ribena products: “The blackcurrants in Ribena contain four times the vitamin C of oranges”, which implied that Ribena fruit drinks contained four times the Vitamin C of comparable orange juice products, when this was not correct.

GSK Australia has undertaken to the ACCC that in the future it will not:

• make claims about the Vitamin C content of Ribena Ready to Drink products, unless those claims can be substantiated by validated testing methods
• make any express or implied representation that Ribena products contain four times the Vitamin C of orange juice products
• make any express or implied representation that Ribena products contain more Vitamin C than orange juice products, unless the representations can be substantiated.

GSK Australia has also undertaken to the ACCC that it will:

• publish a corrective notice which is to be placed in retail outlets selling Ribena fruit drinks that advises consumers of the allegedly misleading representations
• publish corrective notices on Ribena websites advising consumers of the allegedly misleading representations
• publish an educative article on the importance of being accurate when making representations to consumers and working cooperatively with the ACCC to resolve concerns
• review, and implement recommended changes to, its trade practices law compliance program.