A jelly company that was falsely claiming its product was New Zealand made has been caught and punished.After pleading guilty to nine charges under the Fair Trading Act, NZ Korea Health Limited was fined $16,000 in the Auckland District Court.Mr Sang Rae
A jelly company that was falsely claiming its product was New Zealand made has been caught and punished.
After pleading guilty to nine charges under the Fair Trading Act, NZ Korea Health Limited was fined $16,000 in the Auckland District Court.
Mr Sang Rae Kim, also known as Jonathan Ken, who is associated with the company, also pleaded guilty to two charges and was fined $12,000.
It is the third time the Commerce Commission prosecuted Mr Kim and associated companies for Fair Trading Act breaches.
Mr Kim and Tomorrow Dreamline were sentenced in 2005 on four charges in relation to misrepresentations about the level of Unique Manuka Factor contained in its own branded honey.
That same year, the company and Mr Kim were fined again for similar breaches of the act.
NZ Korea Health\marketed its Green Top Royal Jelly, which was sold in the Auckland region, as “Product of New Zealand,” “New Zealand Made” and “Best of New Zealand.”
The product also bore an image of a kiwi carrying a New Zealand flag.
Despite these claims the main ingredient – powdered royal jelly – was sourced from overseas and was not registered with the Buy New Zealand Made programme.
The only New Zealand ingredients found in the product were the white beeswax used as a carrying agent for the royal jelly and the purified water used to make the capsule shell.
The jelly was also falsely represented as containing 6% of the active ingredient 10HDA, although ESR testing revealed it had just 0.47% 10HDA.
Commerce Commission enforcement manager, Wellington, Greg Allan, said the misrepresentations on the labels of the product were deliberate.
“They would have led consumers to believe they were buying a superior New Zealand made product, for which they may have paid more than the product was actually worth,” he said.
This is the third case the commission has completed recently involving false country of origin claims and potency claims on royal jelly products sold in Auckland.
