FOOD giant Heinz has been hit with a $2.25 million fine after misleading consumers by claiming one of its snacks, marketed for toddlers, was beneficial for young children.

The Federal Court imposed the penalty on Friday with Justice Richard White also ordering the company to set up a consumer protection compliance program.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had called for a $10 million fine, but Heinz argued that a penalty of about $400,000 was a more appropriate figure.

In a recent hearing, counsel for the ACCC Tom Duggan said the penalty imposed had to be sufficient to act as a deterrent against similar conduct by the company and others operating in the food industry.

He argued the company’s conduct in representations on the packaging of its Little Kids Shredz was “egregious” because of the potential implications for the diet and oral health of young children and involved both “wilful blindness” and “recklessness”.

But Michael O’Brien, for Heinz, said there were no facts to support the company’s conduct being egregious and the court had ruled that while it made an error, it did not intend to mislead.

In a judgment in March, Justice Richard White found the prominent statements on the packaging, that the Shredz snacks comprised 99 per cent fruit and vegetables together with the pictures of the fruit and vegetables, conjured impressions of nutritiousness and health.

“I am satisfied that each of the Heinz nutritionists ought to have known that a representation that a product containing approximately two-thirds sugar was beneficial to the health of children aged one to three years was misleading,” he said.

The Shredz products were a dehydrated snack made from 99 per cent fruit and vegetable ingredients and did not contain any preservatives, artificial colours or flavours, but had a high sugar content.

More than one million were sold before the products were pulled from shelves in May 2016.