The Queensland Yoghurt Company Pty Ltd (QYC) has paid a penalty of $12,600 after being issued with an infringement notice, for allegedly misleading consumers by omitting gelatine as an ingredient.
The ACCC alleges that from at least 2 July 2019, QYC failed to disclose the presence of gelatine, or the compound ingredient CFT-1 of which gelatine was a component, in its Queensland Yoghurts products.
“Consumers rely on accurate labels to make informed purchasing decisions,” says ACCC Commissioner, Sarah Court.
“QYC’s failure to disclose gelatine means consumers may have purchased its yoghurt products believing they did not contain gelatine.
“This may be of particular concern to customers who have chosen not to consume gelatine for dietary, religious, environmental or ethical reasons.”
The ACCC was also concerned that QYC was not competing fairly in a market where products are differentiated by their ingredients, by being able to offer an apparently more attractive product, which was represented to be free from gelatine.
“Misleading representations relating to food are a 2020 enforcement priority area for the ACCC, and we will continue to take enforcement action where necessary,” says Ms Court.
QYC has committed to amend its products’ statement of ingredients by the end of May.
