A major Australian milk company has been fined by the consumer watchdog for misleading consumers by labelling two of its products as “fresh milk” when they were found to contain substantial amounts of powdered milk.
Lactalis Australia’s Golden North Country Fresh 2L milk was found to contain substantial amounts of powdered milk. (Supplied: Lactalis Australia)
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued Lactalis Australia Pty Ltd with three infringement notices for “making false or misleading representations in the labelling” of two of its milk products — Ferguson Valley WA Dairy Fresh 2L milk and Golden North Country Fresh 2L milk.
The latter product is in no way related to South Australia’s Golden North Ice Cream.
ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh told the SA Country Hour both products were found to contain “substantial amounts of powdered reconstituted ingredients”.
“Most consumers would be aware milk undergoes some processing, so homogenisation [and] pasteurisation, so there may be some adjustment to the butter-fat content to meet the Australian fresh drinking milk standard,” he said.
“But beyond that, we expect milk that’s labelled ‘fresh’ to be largely as it comes from the cow.
The ACCC found Ferguson Valley WA Dairy Fresh 2L milk was falsely described as “fresh”. (Supplied: Lactalis Australia)
“In this case, it was reconstituted from milk powder and skim milk, we allege, and therefore consumers would be misled if they were advised that that was fresh milk.”
Lactalis Australia has paid $59,400 in penalties over the three infringements and also removed the word “fresh” from both products.
The company, which owns a wide array of dairy products and brands in Australia, is owned by the multinational Lactalis Group, the world’s largest fresh dairy company.
Most retailers accurately labelling milk
Milk being labelled as “fresh” when it contains additives is not a widespread problem, according to the ACCC.
An investigation of the milk processing industry by the watchdog found that processors and retailers were largely labelling their fresh milk products accurately.
South Australian Dairyfarmers Association president Robert Brokenshire said consumers needed to feel confident that milk labelled “fresh full cream milk” was exactly that.
Robert Brokenshire says consumers need to feel confident in labelling. (Supplied: South Australian Dairy Association)
“Labels need to be true to title …. at farm gate we’re delivering some of the highest quality, clean and green and fresh milk from our cows … that you’d get anywhere in the world,” he said.
“Fresh milk is fresh milk … we work hard at farm gate on social licence for the dairy industry. Animal welfare is second to none in everything we do.
“We have very high standards that we have to be able to pass at all times when our milk is tested.”
Food processors ‘on notice’ about accurate labelling
The ACCC said it had put all food processors “on notice about the importance of truthfulness and accuracy with their packaging and labelling”.
“We’ve previously had situations where products described as ‘organic’ [and which] for various reasons weren’t. And we’ve had situations where …. a product was labelled as coming from a particular region, but did not,” Mr Keogh said.
“[Food processors and retailers] risk serious consequences if they make misleading claims to consumers.”
Lactais was previously penalised $950,000 for breaching the Dairy Code of Conduct by failing to meet some of its 2020-21 milk season obligations, in Federal Court proceedings brought by the ACCC.
The ABC has contacted Lactalis Australia Pty Ltd for comment.
