A South Australian egg supplier has been fined $50,000 for falsely passing off hundreds of thousands of cage eggs as the free range variety.
The Federal Court in Adelaide yesterday fined Barossa Valley supplier Rosemary Bruhn $50,000 and ordered she pay $15,000 in court fees for action brought against her by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
It was alleged that between April 2010 and October 2010, Ms Bruhn of 'Rosie's Free Range Eggs' had bought more than 660,000 cage eggs which she supplied to business customers under the free-range guise.
Retail outlets, cafes, bakeries and restaurants across South Australia were affected.
The ACCC said proceedings did not relate to eggs supplied by Ms Bruhn to the general public at her farm gate or at the Adelaide Showground Farmers Market.
“The ACCC takes action in cases such as this to protect consumers and also to protect other egg suppliers who accurately label and supply eggs,” said ACCC commissioner Sarah Court.
