Dishes for toddlers: australian courts accuses Heinz of deception

AFP

AFP

Monday, 19 march, 2018 04:11

UPDATE
Monday, 19 march, 2018 04:11

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SYDNEY, Australia | The australian courts ruled on Monday that the giant american food Heinz had deceived the consumer about the health benefits of certain products for toddlers.

In 2016, the Commission australian competition and consumer (ACCC) had applied to the federal Court on the subject of prepared meals and dishes for 1-3 years, marketed under the name of “Little Kids Shredz”.

The regulator deemed deceptive indications of Heinz on the nutritional qualities of its products, explaining that they contained more than 60 % sugar to be much more than fruits and vegetables.

The Court came to a row of this notice.

“Heinz claimed that (his dishes) were beneficial ( … ), whereas, because of their high content of sugar and their sticky texture, the products were not beneficial to the health of 1-3 years”, said the court in its expected.

The group “has engaged in conduct misleading and deceptive, or likely to mislead and deceive, in contravention” with the australian legislation on the protection of the consumer.

The court is certain that every nutritionist from Heinz would have had to know that presenting a product containing about two-thirds of sugar as beneficial to the health of 1-3 years was misleading”.

Heinz, which was merged in 2015, with the group’s Kraft Foods, had denied the allegations of the ACCC.

In a press release published on Monday by Fairfax Media, he said he was “disappointed with the result” but added that he would comply.

The products Shredz are no longer available in the shelves in australia.

The federal Court has yet to set a hearing date to discuss the fines imposed by the ACCC.

Alerting on the presence of sugars “hidden” in many industrial products, the world health Organization (WHO) has recommended in 2015 to reduce the intake of sugars to less than 10 %, even 5 % of energy intake day, in the fight against obesity.