IGA label breaks law by calling iconic Anzac biscuits cookies

A word on the label of an iconic Australian baked good sold in a grocery store could constitute an illegal act.

On the eight-pack of Anzac biscuits found by a Reddit user at the local IGA store, the iconic food is incorrectly labelled as cookies instead of biscuits.

According to government guidelines, Anzac biscuits “must not deviate significantly from the generally accepted recipe and shape and must be described as Anzac biscuits or Anzac slices and not as Anzac cookies”.

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If ingredients are substituted in recipes for dietary reasons, this is not considered a deviation.

Abuse of these guidelines may result in fines or imprisonment for up to 12 months under the Protection of Word 'Anzac' Act 1920.

The government's traditional recipe includes oats, dried coconut, brown sugar, white flour, butter or margarine, golden syrup, baking soda and hot water.

However, it should be noted that due to the cookie's more than 100-year-old tradition, there are many variations and it can contain ingredients such as cinnamon, spice mixes, jam and eggs.

“Anzac f****** WHAT NOW?????” said one social media user.

Several users simply said: “Straight to jail.”

Commentators also pointed out that the product's guarantee that it was made in Australia using at least 10 percent local ingredients, while flimsy, could not be considered illegal.

“Made with less than 10 percent Australian ingredients?” one person asked. “Nope.”

“What should be illegal are Anzac biscuits that only contain 10 percent Australian ingredients,” another person agreed.

However, other social media users said it was “a stupid thing to even acknowledge (let alone get upset about).”

“Because that’s the most important thing we have to worry about as a nation,” another person said.

IGA was contacted for comment.