Australian fast-food franchise Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd has paid penalties totalling $150,240 after the ACCC issued it with eight infringement notices for alleged breaches of the Australian Consumer Law by failing to comply with the mandatory button battery information standard.
The infringement notices relate to a Garfield toy powered by button batteries that was supplied nationwide without the important warnings and information required by the mandatory information standard.
Between 20 May 2024 and 30 May 2024, Hungry Jack's supplied 27,850 of the Garfield toys with its children's meals.
While the Garfield toy complied with the button battery safety standard, it did not advise consumers that it contained button batteries, nor provide relevant warnings about the potentially fatal hazards these pose or advice about what to do if a child ingested one.
"Button batteries are extremely dangerous for young children and tragically, children have been seriously injured or died from swallowing or ingesting them," ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
"The ACCC continues to see non-compliant products on the market which pose unacceptable safety risks to vulnerable young children. We take non-compliance with these important standards seriously and will not hesitate to take enforcement action where appropriate."
The ACCC has also accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from Hungry Jack's in which it admitted the Garfield toy is likely to have failed to comply with the button battery information standard.
Hungry Jack's has undertaken to establish and implement a compliance program designed to minimise Hungry Jacks' risk of future breaches of the Australian Consumer Law.
Millions of consumer goods worldwide contain button batteries. If swallowed, a button battery can become stuck in a child's throat and result in catastrophic injuries, and even death, in as little as two hours. In Australia, three children have died and more than one child a month is injured from incidents involving button batteries.
Businesses involved in the supply of button batteries and products containing them must ensure compliance with both the mandatory safety and information standards. The safety standards require products containing button batteries to be sold in child resistant packaging and to have secure battery compartments to prevent children from gaining access to the batteries. The information standards require warnings and emergency advice on packaging and instructions.
Images of the Garfield toy including packaging
Recalled product
Hungry Jack's has recalled the Garfield toy. Consumers can return the toy to their nearest Hungry Jack's restaurant for a free replacement for a non-battery toy.
ACCC guidance for businesses and consumers
Button batteries are small, round and shiny and can be appealing for young children to swallow or insert, which poses a significant risk of serious injury or death. Compliance with the mandatory standards helps to prevent this.
If you suspect your child has swallowed or inserted a button battery:
- call Triple Zero (000) immediately if your child is bleeding or having any difficulty breathing
- call 13 11 26 immediately for 24/7 fast and expert advice from the Poisons Information Centre.
Prompt action is critical, do not wait for symptoms to develop. Serious injury can occur in as little as two hours and can be fatal.
The ACCC strongly encourages consumers to check for button battery products in their homes and take steps to secure them to keep them safe for young children. Consumers can check the list of recalled products on the ACCC Product Safety website.
Anyone who has experienced product safety incidents (including near misses) is strongly encouraged to report these to the supplier and to report safety concerns about particular products to the ACCC via the Product Safety website.
Suppliers of button battery products must submit a report to the ACCC within 2 days if they become aware that a consumer good they have supplied caused or may have caused a death, serious injury or serious illness. Further information about this reporting can be found in the ACCC's Mandatory Reporting Guideline.
The ACCC has published a fact sheet and guide for businesses on the button battery mandatory standards to assist businesses with meeting their obligations.
Note
The ACCC can issue an infringement notice when it has reasonable grounds to believe a person or business has contravened certain consumer protection provisions in the Australian Consumer Law.
The payment of a penalty specified in an infringement notice is not an admission of a contravention of the Australian Consumer Law. The Australian Consumer Law sets the penalty amount.
Background
Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd is an Australian fast-food franchise of the Burger King corporation.
Four mandatory button battery standards operate in Australia which aim to make button battery products safer and provide consumers with important safety information.
The ACCC consulted and engaged extensively with industry during the 18-month transition period before the standards became mandatory, including working with businesses to explain the changes that would be required to comply with the new standards.
Product safety, and consumers experiencing a vulnerability or disadvantage, are enduring ACCC priorities, and consumer product safety issues for young children (with a focus on compliance with the button battery standards) is a 2025-26 ACCC compliance and enforcement priority.
Other button battery enforcement outcomes include:
- In April 2025 the ACCC commenced proceedings against Fewstone Pty Ltd (trading as City Beach) regarding allegations that City Beach offered for sale 70 product lines containing button batteries which did not comply with Australia's mandatory button battery standards.
- In May 2023, the Reject Shop and Dusk paid a total of nearly $240,000 in penalties after the ACCC issued infringement notices for alleged failure to comply with mandatory product safety and information standards in Halloween novelty products containing button batteries.
- In June 2023, the ACCC, in collaboration with state and territory consumer protection regulators, announced the outcome of market surveillance of over 400 businesses and 8 online platforms which identified a concerning level of non-compliance with the information standards, and to a lesser extent with the safety standards.
- In October 2023, Tesla Motors Australia Pty Ltd paid penalties totalling $155,460 after the ACCC issued 10 infringement notices for alleged contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law in relation to the supply of 3 types of car key fobs and 2 types of illuminating door sills that allegedly did not comply with the safety and information standards.
- In December 2023 Repco, Supercheap Auto and Innovative Mechatronics Group paid penalties totalling $119,280 after the ACCC issued them with infringement notices for supplying aftermarket car key remotes that allegedly did not comply with the information standards.
- In June 2024, MDI International Pty Ltd and TEEG Australia Pty Ltd each paid penalties of $49,500 after the ACCC issued them with infringement notices for alleged breaches of the Australian Consumer Law, by failing to comply with the testing requirements of the button battery safety standard.
