06-05-2025
Hungry Jack's fined for putting 27,000 toys with button batteries in meals without warning
One of Australia's largest fast food outlets has been accused of "putting a loaded gun" in front of children across the country after breaking button battery laws.
Hungry Jack's dispatched 27,850 Garfield toys powered by button batteries over 10 days in May last year, before recalling them.
The fast food chain was fined $150,240 for breaching Australian Consumer Law.
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AAP: Mick Tsikas
)
They included no warning about the button batteries the toys contained or the risk they posed to children.
The toys otherwise complied with the national safety standard.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has the power to fine companies up to $10 million for breaches of consumer law, or 10 per cent of annual turnover, depending on which is higher.
Aside from the lack of warning, the toys complied with the national safety standard.
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Supplied: ACCC
)
Hungry Jack's had an estimated revenue close to $2 billion last financial year.
For this breach, the ACCC
In a statement, Hungry Jack's said it took "immediate steps to stop distribution, issue a product recall" and contact its suppliers and authorities last year.
'Catastrophic injuries' possible
Andrea Shoesmith's four-year-old daughter Summer Steer died on Queensland's Sunshine Coast in 2013 after ingesting a button battery.
Ms Shoesmith has since campaigned against their use in Australia, which helped usher in new laws in 2023.
Andrea Shoesmith's daughter Summer Steer, 4, died in 2013 after swallowing a button battery.
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ABC Sunshine Coast: Amy Sheehan
)
She said for Hungry Jack's to pay such a small fine relative to its revenue was "disgusting".
"If they've given out 27,000 of them, don't tell me there's not going to be one child affected by it, because there will be," she said.
The lithium button batteries are about the size of a 10-cent piece, and if swallowed can burn a hole through the oesophagus, and into organs or the spine.
"It's like a loaded gun,"
Ms Shoesmith said.
"You go to Hungry Jack's and get a meal and get a loaded gun, and just hope for the best."
Summer Steer, from the Sunshine Coast, became the first child to die in Australia from swallowing a button in 2013.
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Supplied: Andrea Shoesmith
)
Kidsafe Queensland chief executive Susan Teerds said unless someone realised immediately that a battery had been swallowed, it may take time for symptoms to show.
Photo shows
An x-ray of a baby who swallowed a button battery.
Baby Adèle is now on the road to recovery, but two months ago she was in intensive care after swallowing a button battery.
"Particularly if the button battery is now flat, it might not work your remote control to the garage door but it can still cause catastrophic injuries," she said.
Ms Teerds said even if the toys officially met the standard, they remained dangerous.
"Just because a product has a screw-down battery compartment, it doesn't mean that it is still a safe product," she said.
"
I would avoid any products with button batteries if you've got children or dogs in your household.
"
Susan Teerds says people should keep button batteries out of their homes.
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ABC News
)
Ms Shoesmith feared that even parents who were aware of the danger of button batteries may not know the Garfield toys had them because there was no warning.
"There will be some child that gets sick or dies from it, like Summer," she said.
"They just shouldn't be available at all, let alone putting them in child's packaging from Hungry Jack's. That's ridiculous."
If someone believes a child has ingested a battery, they should call the Poisons Information Centre on 131126.
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