Entee Food & Beverage Wholesalers & Distributors Pty Ltd has been ordered by the Federal Court to stop selling orange juice containing 15 per cent Brazilian orange juice concentrate under labels claiming that the orange juice is a 'Product of Australia' and 'Australian Squeezed'.
The Court held that Entee breached the misleading and country of origin provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 by making inaccurate claims on the labels of their 'Darwin Squeezed Orange Juice' and their 'Orange Juice - Australian Squeezed'.
"The labels said the orange juice was a 'product of Australia', 'Australian Squeezed', 'Darwin squeezed', 'pure Australian fruit' and 'Locally squeezed'", ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels, said today. "In fact, from January 2001 to June 2001 the products contained 15 per cent orange juice reconstituted from orange juice concentrate imported from Brazil and were packaged using orange juice prepared in Brisbane. Also, there has been no Entee juice squeezing plant in Darwin since approximately June 2000.
"Consumers have the right to be confident that what is stated on the labels of orange juice and other foods is accurate. In this instance several of the representations have been found to breach the Act.
"The labelling on the 'Darwin Squeezed Orange Juice' also did not list sugar as an ingredient or state that it contained added sugar. Not providing this information could lead to serious health implications for some consumers, such as diabetics".
The ACCC acknowledges that Entee has been fully cooperative in quickly resolving this matter. Entee has given the ACCC a court-enforceable undertaking to ensure all management and relevant staff undertake trade practices compliance training.
The court also ordered that Entee become a signatory to the Code of Practice and Administration Rules for the Fruit Juice Industry and pay $5000 towards the ACCC’s costs.
This case should warn other juice manufacturers that they should ensure that juice is labelled correctly so as not to mislead customers.