Companies fined for undeclared peanuts

Monday, 10 May 2010 11:35

The NSW importer and the distributor of a Chinese gingili (sesame) paste that contained undeclared peanuts have been fined $2,640 and $6,600 respectively under the NSW Food Act after it was found they had falsely labelled the food. The case was brought to the attention of the NSW Food Authority after a peanut-allergic South Australian man was treated for anaphylaxis after consuming the product.

In one batch of the product, a Chinese label affixed to the package correctly listed the ingredients, but this had been over-laid with label written in English that made no declaration of the peanut content. A different batch of the same product was also described as being '100 per cent sesame' in the English label which appeared alongside the Chinese script that made reference to the peanut content.