A coconut drink that caused the death of a Melbourne boy from an allergic reaction was only tested once for allergens by the importer despite documents indicating the presence of dairy products, a court has heard.
The milk content of the Green Time Natural Coconut Drink, imported by Narkena Pty Ltd, was not declared on its label, resulting in it being recalled in January last year.
A month earlier, a 10-year-old Melbourne boy died after he consumed the drink.
The drink was not tested for allergens until September 2015, the Downing Centre Local Court heard on Tuesday, and only after the company had pleaded guilty to three charges, including selling food falsely described.
"It's really a matter of too little, too late," the NSW Food Authority's lawyer, Jehane Ghabrial, said during sentence submissions.
"Absolutely nothing really was done in terms of testing."
Narkena business manager Perry Wu said the company blamed the incorrect labelling on the manufacturer.
"We asked the manufacturer to provide the ingredients for all products," Mr Wu said.
In documents exchanged between Narkena and its supplier from October 2011 to November 2013 there was a declaration on the bottom indicating the drinks contained less than 10 per cent dry weight dairy product, the court heard.
The coconut drink had traces of condensed milk.
But even this declaration did not prompt Mr Wu or others at Narkena to test it for allergens.
"I did not see the manufacturing declaration," Mr Wu said.
The court also heard the company is now in the process of hiring an expert label consultant and that it has not made any attempt to contact the dead child's family or offer them compensation.
Narkena's lawyer, Robert Ranken, argued the company did not know it was selling a drink containing potentially dangerous allergens.
"Narkena was genuinely unaware that this batch contained any milk products," Mr Ranken said.
Andy Lin, Narkena's sole director and secretary was not in court, as Mr Wu said his English was poor.
No request for a translator was made, the court heard.
The Taiwanese product was sold in Asian grocery stores and small independent supermarkets in NSW, ACT, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson will hand down sentence in November.
