A frozen yoghurt company has been fined for selling frozen yoghurt products which did not contain yoghurt.

But the fine has been reduced from $270,000 to just $70,000 because the companies charged by the Commerce Commission were both in liquidation.

Last year, Yoghurt Story New Zealand pleaded not guilty to 63 counts of misrepresenting frozen yoghurt as yoghurt, and 10 counts of making misleading claims about the product's health benefits.

DEAN KOZANIC/FAIRFAX NZ Yoghurt Story's yoghurt was simply not yoghurt.

The charges were brought by the commission against Yoghurt Story New Zealand and Frozen Yoghurt, both operated by Shaun Son.

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On Friday, the commission said Judge David Sharp had agreed Yoghurt Story's products were not yoghurt as defined by the Australia New Zealand Food Standard Code.

Yoghurt Story had claimed its frozen yoghurt improved your immune system, lowered the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and prevented infections.

Judge Sharp said these claims were a significant departure from the truth, however, as the product was simply not yoghurt.

"The defendants' conduct was a cynical attempt to take advantage of consumers' desire to make healthier food choices.

"The defendants themselves considered the product to be more akin to an ice cream product, yet they decided to call their stores 'Yoghurt Story' because it was more attractive to consumers than calling it 'Ice Cream Story'."

The companies were fined $35,000 each in the Auckland District Court, but the judge noted he would have fined them a total of $270,000 had they not been in liquidation.

Commerce Commission commissioner Anna Rawlings said this was an important case because customers relied on information provided by companies when they made decisions to buy.

"In this case the health claims made by the companies were not supported by scientific justification and the product was not what it was marketed to be.

"Yoghurt Story's conduct was misleading as a result."

There are only 10 Yoghurt Story stores left in the country, down from a peak of about 22.

About 10 of Son's entities have gone into receivership or liquidation since last year owing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he was bankrupted in January.