FoodLegal Bulletin, April 2009 >>

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On 2 April 2009, Coca-Cola South Pacific Pty Ltd entered into court-enforceable Undertakings with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (‘the ACCC’) whereby the company was compelled to concede that its ‘Myth-busting’ advertisements potentially misled or deceived consumers, potentially breaching Section 52 of the Trade Practices Act 1974. This article explores the ACCC action and highlights the key differences between Sections 52, 53 and 55 of the Trade Practices Act, discussing the relationship between advertising and compliance by food companies.

On 20 March 2009, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) released a Consultation Paper on its Proposal P293, which includes the fourth draft of the proposed Standard 1.2.7 ‘Nutrition, Health and Related Claims’.  This article explores the implications of FSANZ’s attempt to heavily regulate all general level health claims by requiring pre-approval of all general level health claim relationships. 

The use of a certification trade mark as an endorsement in food marketing can provide a food company with benefits that its business might not otherwise enjoy and different types of endorsement schemes can offer different benefits.  This article considers the legalities and benefits of certification trade mark endorsements using different examples of endorsement schemes in existing food marketing.

In late February 2009, the National Heart Foundation of Australia publicly released more details about its eligibility criteria for foods being considered for its Heart Foundation Tick program/logo endorsement.  In the initial public release, the criteria for 5 out of 55 food categories formulated by the Heart Foundation were released.  Our article of 2,900 words considers whether the Tick program can be said to satisfy compliance concerns in relation to the requirements of the Trade Practices Act and the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

A batch of two-headed fish born in Noosa in January 2009 has prompted scrutiny of Australian regulation of agricultural and veterinary chemicals used in the production of food. This article highlights areas of contention in the current laws and ought to serve as a warning for both consumers and manufacturers of food in Australia.

On 23 March 2009, the Federal Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs, Mr Chris Bowen, released the draft of an industry Code for unit pricing that is intended to implement a nationally-consistent mandatory unit pricing scheme requiring certain grocery retailers to use unit pricing when selling particular grocery items to consumers.

More of the latest food law developments including:

• Vitamin water complaint rejected: ACCC possible change of tack on compositional representations policy
• Reprimand over false ‘Country of Origin’ claim
• ACCC allows SA chicken growers to collectively bargain with Inghams
• New advertising code to regulate Environmental Claims
• PETA campaign banned in Germany
• Federal Court decision illustrates potential to challenge improperly-made delegated legislation

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On Friday 6 March 2009, FoodLegal personnel, including Managing Principal Joe Lederman, volunteered at the Victorian Foodbank warehouse. FoodLegal urges other businesses to support Foodbank in achieving its vision of an Australia without hunger.