A 'honey' product made from plant sugars that was made in Turkey has landed its importer, Hume Import & Export, trading as Bera Foods, in hot water with the competition regulator.
The company has been fined $10,200 by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for using the word honey and including a map of Australia on its label.
By doing so, the ACCC said, its maker had misrepresented the product as Australian honey when in fact the product was predominantly made from plant sugars and was produced in Turkey.
“The ACCC was concerned in this case because although “Hi Honey” was labelled as honey, the product was not actually honey produced by honey bees. Honey suppliers must ensure any products they sell as 'honey' are in fact produced entirely by honey bees,” ACCC commissioner Sarah Court said.
“Further, the inclusion of a prominent map of Australia on the Hi Honey label may have led consumers to conclude the product was produced in Australia when this was not the case. Credence claims such as this are a priority area for the ACCC, to ensure consumers are given accurate information about the content and origin of products,” Court said.
Earlier this year, Victoria Honey, which was also not produced by honey bees and was not a product of Victoria, Australia, copped an ACCC fine.
The ACCC says it also recently saw to it that suppliers of “Sunshine Honey”, “Hecham Honey”, “Brezzo Italian Red Gum Honey”, “Meg Myucku 100% natural honey” and “Golden Honey” ceased supply of the product and withdrew remaining stocks of the product from wholesale customers, because each of these products labelled as honey was not entirely produced by honey bees.
