A VICTORIAN Farmers Federation official who criticised animal-welfare groups over "getting facts right" sold eggs using misleading information.
VFF egg group president Brian Ahmed sold his "Down the Farm" eggs carrying the picture and story of a third-generation Italian immigrant "Guiseppe" - complete with pictures - last year.
But no Italian immigrants had anything to do with his eggs. The pictures on the packaging were of Polish immigrants, taken by the US Department of Agriculture in the 1940s.
The Weekly Times understands the Australian Egg Corporation was asked to refer the Ahmed case to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, but instead pressured Mr Ahmed to remove the story from the cartons.
Mr Ahmed said it was his Turkish "mum and dad I wrote about" on the packaging.
He said he changed the names and ethnic background of characters in the story and used photographs of different people "because my family didn't want to be on the packaging".
"I didn't purposefully try to mislead people," he said.
Mr Ahmed was advised the packaging was legal, but AEC managing director James Kellaway had "recommended for the industry (that) it would be wise" to remove the story.
Mr Ahmed is not the first of the VFF egg group's heirachy to encounter labelling issues.
Treasurer Timothy Drew's company GO Drew was in 2007 ordered to contribute $270,000 to the development of a new organic standard and better monitoring after the ACCC prosecuted it for selling conventionally grown eggs as organic.
And in 2004, the ACCC required the company to remove logos from its packaging which resembled the Heart Foundation's tick.
Mr Drew sells and markets Mr Ahmed's eggs.
Last week, Mr Ahmed accused Animals Australia of pushing "half truths" over claims the EU had phased out battery egg farms.
Mr Ahmed also quoted the AEC, which has claimed eggs would cost $10 a dozen if cage eggs were phased out.
Free-range farmer Phil Westwood said the EU was prosecuting countries who had failed to ban battery egg production.
He said the cost of Australian free-range eggs would not rise above the current $7.
