New Zealand Commerce Commission issues warning over chicken size representations (Media Release)

Following an investigation by the Commerce Commission into weight labelling, multiple New Zealand poultry suppliers have been warned for the packaging representations about the size of the chickens. The Commission considered that including the stuffing and marinade weight in the size weight description on the label was likely to have misleading consequences, with some factories including up to 500g of stuffing and marinade in the total weight. The Commission stated that claims regarding the ‘size’ of the chicken was likely to create the impression in consumers that the weight range is the size of the bird, rather than net weight. After the Commission issued letters of warning, given industry cooperation and new net weight labelling, no further action was taken as of 10 January 2019.