Australia’s consumer watchdog has secured a court-enforceable undertaking from Heinz not to fool the public again.
Heinz acquired Golden Circle, which also included the Original Juice Company and Popper Juice names, in December 2008.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Graeme Samuel said despite the ownership change, Heinz continued to sell Golden Circle fruit salad, pineapple, beetroot and other products with outdated labels declaring the company was “proudly Australian owned”.
As late as January this year, it was still manufacturing some fruit juice with misleading messages on its packaging.
Mr Samuel said Heinz also failed to strip references to Golden Circle’s “iconic status . . . through a commitment to remaining proudly Australian owned” from the brand’s website.
“While a number of ingredients in Golden Circle products are sourced locally, it is important that consumers are not misled – Golden Circle is no longer Australian-owned,” Mr Samuel said.
The voluntary undertaking requires Heinz to stop making misleading claims, correct information on supermarket shelves, and publish advertisements.
Heinz spokeswoman Jessica Ramsden said the company acknowledged the seriousness of the breach. “We had over 400 products to re-label and it took longer than anticipated to complete that process.”
Source: News.com.au
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024