Introduction
The ACCC v Pirovic case in Australia
illustrates the risk in adopting a food labelling and advertising
campaign that does not pay sufficient regard to what is conveyed by
the label to consumers.
'Free range' labelling credence claims
'Free range' labelling of eggs has a particularly strong
impact on the mind of consumers. It is a credence claim that
distinguishes, positively, the associated product from non-free
range versions of the same product. A 'free range' product
is often priced at a significant premium, and it is invariably
marketed with a high degree of prominence given to the 'free
range' claim (for example, eggs are sold as 'free range
eggs' rather than as 'eggs that are produced by free range
chickens'). Indeed, in Australia in 2013, free range eggs were
priced at an average premium of 75 cents per dozen over barn-laid
eggs. And, since 2009, eggs labelled as 'free range' have
gone from a 25 per cent share of the retail market to
