Lactalis Australia has paid three infringement notices, for a total of $59,400, issued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for allegedly mislabelling two of its milk products. According to the ACCC, Lactalis’ Golden North Country Fresh 2l and Ferguson Valley ‘WA DAIRY FRESH’ 2l were both labelled as fresh milk. However, both contained substantial amounts of powdered reconstituted ingredients, including skim milk and lactose. Lactalis has since removed the word fresh from its product labels.

ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh said, “consumers should be able to trust product labels as accurate descriptions of the products they are buying, particularly for everyday groceries such as milk.” Keogh said food processors in Australia are on notice about the importance of truthfulness and accuracy of packaging and labelling.