False fresh bread claims cost Coles $2.5m

COLES has been ordered to pay a $2.5 million penalty for falsely advertising “freshly baked” bread when it had been par-baked off-site — sometimes months earlier. The federal court found the supermarket giant had deceptively represented bread that had been partially baked and frozen off-site, promoting it as “Baked Today, Sold Today” or “Freshly Baked In-Store”. Coles had already been slapped with a three-year ban preventing it from advertising its bread as freshly baked, and was ordered to display signs saying it had breached Australian consumer law. The consumer watchdog launched an investigation after former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett discovered a loaf of Coles bread that was advertised as freshly baked in-store had been made in Ireland. Originally published as ‘Fresh bread’ claims cost Coles $2.5m