A Federal Court order has sought to maintain public confidence in food safety and warning labels, after finding a duck merchant had been making misleading claims about the lifestyle of its birds.

The court has ordered Luv-a-Duck Pty Ltd (Luv-a-Duck) to pay $360,000 in penalties after a case was raised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Courts found Luv-a-Duck tried to infer they loved their ducks more than they really did, by claiming they were “grown and grain fed in the spacious Victorian Wimmera Wheatlands” and “range reared and grain fed”.

Unfortunately for the ducks and the unwitting consumer, both claims were proven false.

The ducks were neither free to roam the spacious wheatlands nor the range on which they were supposedly reared.

In fact, Luv-a-Duck’s duck-meat products were processed from ducks that did not spend any of their time outside of their barn.

“This penalty is a further warning to the poultry industry and businesses generally that consumers are entitled to trust that what is said on product packaging and other promotional product material is true and accurate,” ACCC Commissioner Sarah Court said.

“Traders who abuse the trust of Australian consumers may also find themselves exposed to similar enforcement action.”

As well as the $360,000 fine, the company must by the ACCC’s $15,000 costs.

Luv-a-duck has also been banned from using the phrases ‘grown and grain fed in the spacious Victorian Wimmera Wheatlands’ and ‘ranged reared and grain fed’ or similar wording for a period of three years, unless it actually affords its ducks those liberties.

It must publish corrective notices on its website and business premises and maintain a trade practices compliance program for three years.

Previous findings over similar claims in the same industry have defined farm bird ‘roaming’ as “largely uninhibited ability to move around at will in an aimless manner.”