PET Food Processing - October 2020 - 58

BRAND CLAIMS

reasonably would conclude that [defendant]'s mass produced, modestly-priced olive oil was made with the most
expensive food in the world." Not only did the Second
Circuit rule that plaintiff 's claims defied common sense,
the court did so at a very early stage of the litigation.
This is akin to the court's order in Parks v. Ainsworth
Pet Nutrition, which claimed that Nutrish Dog Food's
"natural" label was misleading due to the glyphosate present in the product. The court dismissed the plaintiff 's
claims in 2019, stating, "A reasonable customer would not
be so absolutist as to require that 'natural' means there is
no glyphosate, even an accidental and innocuous amount,
in the products." When Parks amended the complaint and
refiled the suit, it was again dismissed on defendants' motion. The court again emphasized reasonable consumer
expectations, stating, "[t]he level of glyphosate in the tested Products is negligible and significantly lower than the
FDA's limit, which supports a finding that the Products'
glyphosate residue is not likely to affect consumer choice,
and that labeling them 'natural' is not materially misleading to a reasonable consumer."

Finally, Weaver v. Champion Petfoods USA Inc. et al.,
case number 2:18-cv-01996 in the US District Court for
the Eastern District of Wisconsin, was one of the many
cases alleging that Champion Petfoods deceptively marketed ACANA and ORIJEN dog foods because they
contained heavy metals and bisphenol A. The court dismissed the case early on, noting that the heavy metals
and BPA were substances commonly found in the environment, and in most pet foods. The court stated that to
"hold Defendants liable for the risk that their products
contain unintended and non-harmful concentrations of
these substances, a fact common to many other pet food
manufacturers, would be extraordinary."
The number of false labeling lawsuits continues to increase, with the list of terms alleged to be misleading also
continuing to expand. The use of a term without a fixed legal
definition leaves enough subjectivity for a plaintiff to potentially allege they were misled. The good news is many courts
have begun to recognize these suits as sometimes spurious
and will dismiss the suits early on if the premise of the alleged misrepresentation is found to be unreasonable. PFP

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58

PET FOOD PROCESSING | October 2020 | www.petfoodprocessing.net

For more information, contact
John Keaveney at 1-(203) 980-5801
john.keaveney@purefield.com
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PET Food Processing - October 2020

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