National Foods Limited - s.87B undertaking

National Foods Limited (National Foods) packages and sells brands of orange juice labelled as 'Berri Australian Fresh' and 'Daily Juice Company'.

The ACCC considered that the Berri Australian Fresh packaging suggested to consumers that it only contained recently squeezed juice when in fact the products within this range may contain a blend of fresh juice and aseptically stored juice.

Aseptically stored juice is juice that has been stored in sterile bags, typically for less than 12 months, after the juice has been extracted. National Foods accepts that the Berri Australian Fresh packaging is likely to have misled some consumers and contravened the Trade Practices Act 1974.

The ACCC was also concerned that the Daily Juice packaging suggested to consumers that it only contained recently squeezed juice when in fact the products within this range contained a blend of fresh and reconstituted juice or a blend of fresh, reconstituted and aseptically stored juice.

To address these issues National Foods has undertaking that it will: 

•  change its Australian Fresh brand to Australian Grown;
• cease supplying Berri Australian Fresh and Daily Juice Company products containing the old representations by 14 March 2011;
• replace this old stock with new packaging that would not mislead consumers; and
• publish corrective advertisements in major Sunday newspapers throughout Australia within 14 days to alert Australian consumers to the contents of these juices while the new packaging is prepared.