Freddo Frogs Withdrawn From Sale
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has ordered that all Freddo Frogs except for the original milk chocolate frog be withdrawn from sale and replaced by chocolates shaped as other amphibians.
Freddo Frogs have been bred in Australia for over 70 years and are popular amongst children and adults. The genetic modification program began slowly with the introduction of white chocolate Freddo Frogs. In recent years the rapid expansion of the program has seen the creation of giant frogs and conjoined twin frogs and also the introduction of frogs with non-chocolate foodstuffs such as rainbow chips and flavoured crème filling.
This practice was disputed by amphibians from the Amphibian Action Group Headquarters (AAGH) who mounted a legal challenge under the Trade Practices Act (1974) using funds rumoured to have been donated by a long time rival of Freddo Frog, Caramello Koala. The AAGH represents toads, salamanders, newts and the little known caecilians who all claim to have been disadvantaged by the Freddo Frog’s anti-competitive practices. One of the newts who led the legal challenge said, “The frogs have had it too good for too long. Kids and adults love frogs but turn up their noses at the rest of us. We’re not that different taxonomically.”
The ACCC decided that the genetic modification of the original milk chocolate Freddo Frog is illegal. The ACCC chairman, Graeme Samuel, ordered the immediate cessation of production of all but the original Freddo Frog and was scathing in his report of the ACCC’s findings, “The ACCC has seen some appalling behaviour from the corporate world but this is by far the worst.” Rather than impose a monetary penalty on the frogs, the ACCC has banned their use of plastic wrappers. Freddo Frogs must now return to their old-style foil wrappers or forgo packaging altogether.
The spokes-amphibian for the AAGH, a Pygmy Salamander, said of the decision, “Justice has prevailed. It was unfair and an un-Australian attack on family values for the frogs to genetically modify themselves. Genetic diversity has been threatened and other amphibians need to be given the chance to flourish.”
Following the ACCC’s decision, the AAGH announced plans for new chocolate amphibians. The salamanders and newts will join forces with the juvenile amphibians, the tadpoles and axolotls, to produce flavoured crème filling chocolates. Toads will specialise in producing different coloured chocolates and the caecilians will be authorised to produce chocolate versions of themselves filled with non-chocolate foodstuffs but only on a probationary basis. They are required to undertake a public education program so that at least one member of the general public has heard of them.
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