This amended Champion lawsuit holds the company accountable for its many marketing claims including “Non-regional and non-fresh ingredients”.
A significant issue added to the amended complaint, filed in Illinois on 2/6/2019, states Champion Pet Food misrepresented its products by (bold added) “failing to fully disclose the presence and/or risk of inclusion in their pet food of …non-regional and non-fresh ingredients, and/or unnatural or other ingredients that do not conform to the labels, packaging, advertising, and statements throughout the United States.”
In a search on the Champion Pet Food website, these “regional” and “fresh” claims were found within minutes..
The amended lawsuit continues…
Defendants further warrant, promise, represent, advertise, and declare that the Contaminated Dog Foods are made with protein, oils, and fat sources that are “Deemed fit for human consumption” in direct contradiction to the true nature of the ingredients utilized, which include, but are not limited to, pentobarbital, BPA and/or unnatural ingredients.
It was recently revealed on information and belief that Defendants were knowingly, recklessly, and/or negligently selling certain of the Contaminated Dog Foods from the DogStar® Kitchens containing pentobarbital that was caused by cross-contamination that resulted from its supplier, MOPAC, an eastern Pennsylvania rendering facility belonging to JBS USA Holdings, Inc. (“JBS”), having accepted and processed euthanized horses in earlier production runs for other customers. This revelation renders any statement as to ingredients claimed to be “fit for human consumption” false.
Yet nowhere in the labeling, advertising, statements, and/or packaging do
Defendants disclose that the Contaminated Dog Foods (defined herein) contain and/or have a high risk of containing heavy metals, pentobarbital, toxins, BPA, non-regional and non-fresh ingredients, and/or unnatural or other ingredients that do not conform to the labels, packaging, advertising, and statements nor do they disclose that they do not adequately test their ingredients and final products for contaminants.
Defendants also mislead consumers by marketing that the Contaminated Dog Foods are made from Fresh and Regional ingredients that are delivered daily. Indeed, this misrepresentation is made numerous times and in numerous ways on the packaging. Defendants go as far as to include photos of local Kentucky or neighboring state suppliers on the packaging. In reality, Defendants source ingredients both internationally (e.g. New Zealand, India, France, Denmark, Ireland, Australia, Canada) and across the United States (Idaho, Ohio, Midwest, West Coast, Northeast). Additionally, Defendants utilized frozen products (some of which have been stored for years) and store the delivered meals at their Kitchens for several months prior to use.
Significant from the above quote (bold added): “Additionally Defendants (Champion Pet Food) utilized frozen products (some of which have been stored for years)…”
Plaintiffs would not have paid this money had they known that the Contaminated Dog Foods contained and/or had risk of inclusion of levels of the heavy metals, pentobarbital, ingredients cross-contaminated with euthanized horse meat, toxins, BPA, non-regional and non-fresh ingredients, and/or unnatural or other ingredients that do not conform to the labels, packaging, advertising, and statements.
Defendants warrant, claim, state, represent, advertise, label, and market their Contaminated Dog Foods as:
(a) “Biologically Appropriate™”;
(b) “Fresh Regional Ingredients” and “Delivered daily”;
(c) “Never Outsourced”;
(d) “Nourish[ing] as Nature Intended”;
(e) “Delivering Nutrients Naturally”;
(f) “Made with Fresh and Natural Ingredients”;
(g) “Premium Meat and Fish Ingredients”; and
(h) “Ingredients deemed fit for human consumption.”
Defendants therefore had a duty to ensure that these statements were true. As such, Defendants knew or should have known that the Contaminated Dog Foods included the presence of heavy metals, pentobarbital, toxins, BPA, non-regional and non-fresh ingredients, and/or unnatural or other ingredients that do not conform to the labels, packaging, advertising, and statements.
Personal opinion: I could not agree more with this last quote; Champion Pet Food does have a duty to ensure all marketing claims are true.
Unfortunately, no pet food regulatory authority scrutinizes the accuracy of claims on pet food websites. ‘They’ are basically allowed to lie to pet owners time and time again. Perhaps lawsuits such as this one will begin to change that.
To read the full amended lawsuit, Click Here.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food
Become a member of our pet food consumer Association. Association for Truth in Pet Food is a a stakeholder organization representing the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and with FDA. Your membership helps representatives attend meetings and voice consumer concerns with regulatory authorities. Click Here to learn more.
What’s in Your Pet’s Food?
Is your dog or cat eating risk ingredients? Chinese imports? Petsumer
Report tells the ‘rest of the story’ on over 5,000 cat foods, dog foods,
and pet treats. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Click Here to preview Petsumer Report. www.PetsumerReport.com
The 2019 List
Susan’s List of trusted pet foods. Click Here to learn more.
Have you read Buyer Beware? Click Here
Cooking pet food made easy, Dinner PAWsible
Find Healthy Pet Foods in Your Area Click Here
Karen Wright
February 7, 2019 at 3:17 pm
Used to feed this to my Great Danes, but after doing more research I am now feeding frozen raw. More expensive, so I don’t mine that I’m paying for the long-term health of my dogs and “peace of mind”.
Laurie Raymond
February 7, 2019 at 3:25 pm
When Champion products were new, I investigated and then sold them enthusiastically. Then I came to realize that the company was not honest with their distributors and/or retailers about the product shortages resulting from the fire at their facility. I cut them slack. But their lies and misrepresentations increased and spread to other areas. I confronted company reps – who tried to buy me off with an all-expense paid trip to tour their new facility and meet with company officials. I didn’t bite, but became ever more wary, because they would not answer my questions but met them with propaganda. Once I realized their claim about “fresh, regional ingredients from local family farms” could not possibly be true once they announced they were exporting to 26 countries and 4 continents, I dumped the line. I’ve been so glad I did. And in the future, I will drop a brand the first time I learn that I’ve been lied to directly, or that it is deceiving its distributors. But I am now convinced that expansion beyond a point at which its ingredient sourcing claims could conceivably be true is the red flag to act on in the future. Trusting companies that have proven untrustworthy is foolish. Pay attention to those marketing claims. Companies will brag in the trade journals about their volume and global reach, yet to consumers pretend to be an aw shucks local green outfit. Wise up, everyone!
Bill
February 7, 2019 at 7:51 pm
Hi, Laurie. Currently, which brands do you recommend?
Laurie Raymond
February 8, 2019 at 2:43 pm
I only sell two brands of kibble: Open Farm and Nature’s Logic. After the Evangers debacle with pentobarbital contamination, when the company revealed the name of its supplier of “human grade beef whole meat” and it turned out to be Bailey Farms, which operates carcass pick up and rendering, and which had long since lost its USDA certification, I brought on Open Farm, because it reveals all the direct purveyors in its supply chain. Then I went to work on the owner of Nature’s Logic to reveal their suppliers, too. At first he told me he couldn’t because there was an agreement among manufacturers to NOT reveal this information. But finally he decided to do it, and now retailers all have that information. Since the really bad stuff is usually concealed in the rendered products (at least, the animal sources) being able to check out the suppliers of those ingredients was a top priority for me. I don’t recommend kibble, but people will feed it. So I only carry those two brands which have transparent supply chains.
Diane
February 9, 2019 at 8:35 am
Thank you
Bill
February 9, 2019 at 10:11 am
Thanks for that in-depth reply. I appreciate the description of your reasoning behind your recommendations.
Another inquiy: Why do you oppose recommending kibble?
Concerned
February 7, 2019 at 3:32 pm
If any fish ingredients are coming from Kentucky suppliers I would be very concerned:
https://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Fish-Consumption-Advisories.aspx
Fish consumption advisories are in effect for the following:
Statewide: All Kentucky waters are under an advisory for mercury. Women of childbearing age and children 6 years of age or younger should eat no more than six meals per year of predatory fish, no more than one meal per month of panfish and bottom feeding fish and no more than 1 meal per week of fish in the “other fish” category. The general population should eat no more than one meal per month of predatory fish and no more than one meal per week of panfish and bottom feeding fish. There is no advisory for the general population for fish in the “other fish” category.
Predatory fish include black bass (smallmouth, largemouth and spotted), white bass, striped bass, hybrid striped bass, sauger, saugeye, walleye, muskellunge, flathead and blue catfish, yellow bass, bowfin, chain pickerel and all gars.
Panfish include bluegill, crappie, rock bass as well as green, longear and redear sunfish.
Bottom feeder fish include the bullheads, buffalo species, channel catfish, common carp, redhorse species, shovelnose sturgeon, drum, creek chub as well as the white suckers, spotted suckers, northern hogsuckers and carpsuckers.
Other fish include asian carp, trout species, minnows, etc.
This is not an emergency, as organic mercury can occur naturally in the environment and does not affect swimmers, skiers or boaters. Fish can accumulate these low levels of mercury by eating plankton and other small aquatic creatures.
Andee
February 7, 2019 at 4:07 pm
Wow, can’t trust anyone. Are we headed toward a Class Action Lawsuit here?
Leannan
February 7, 2019 at 5:37 pm
*Years* ago, I posted a link, in City-Data cats forum, and, in the comments section of this website.
The link was to a heavily redacted Australian customs form, that someone [else] had obtained under the FOIA.
It was their attempt to find the cause of recent, unexplained, saddle thrombosis in Australian cats.
The customs forms showed chicken being processed in the U.S. So, not local.
But, if I remember correctly, the real find was the *choice* of that particular processing plant.
Dawn
February 7, 2019 at 6:06 pm
Wouldn’t the good ole FDA much better utilize their time and taxpayers money by going after this very kind of thing! This is what they are supposed to be enforcing. Why are they harassing raw food companies like Hare Today instead on very shady claims?
Dianne & Pets
February 7, 2019 at 7:13 pm
considering that this is originally a Canadian company, either the same applies here, or soon will. Maybe, a good rule of thumb would be to not buy it if a major chain sells it.
Pet ~Owner~
February 7, 2019 at 7:29 pm
I see more and more (and more!) customers buying huge PF bags from Costco. I think they’re getting wise to these fake claims (as in just too good to be true kind of stuff). What a shame that a company like Champion would charge premium price and then deceive consumers in the process! It wouldn’t be right (just expected) if some cheap PF company pulled this nonsense. But owners feeding Champion really felt they were doing the right thing, AND were willing to pay for it!!
M.L. Moore
February 19, 2019 at 2:23 pm
Yes, I was paying over $80 a bag for Orijin for 4 collies. Believe me that adds up. I thought I did due diligence and thought I was getting premium dog food for the premium price. Silly me.
An aside, when the bags got smaller and the kibble changed and then were different locations involved, things began to get a bit sketchy, I switched.
Glenda Russell
February 8, 2019 at 12:27 am
Are they still selling this bad food? I just bought some of the Acana fish. Now I’m worried. What can you trust anymore?
Tania Cummings
February 8, 2019 at 5:32 am
Hi Leannan. I wonder if you are referring to the Australian cats who became paralysed from eating Orijen way back in 2009. The Orijen had been subjected to gamma irradiation to comply with strict Australian quarantine rules. The Australian importer and Champion had to agree to the irradiation process being carried out in order to be granted an import licence. But Champion tried to deny any foreknowledge of the irradiation process. I was one of the affected cat owners and I went to extreme lengths to prove Champion were being very economical with the truth by obtaining documents under the Freedom of Information Act here in Australia. One of the documents I received was a certificate from a U.S. rendering firm, which was quite heavily redacted, which proved that Champion included rendered carcasses in their food and gave lie to the claim that Orijen was made only from freshly caught fish and locally farmed fowl. I checked out the name of the company on the certificate on Google search, and discovered it was a rendering company called Griffin Industries. Bingo! I think this might be the document to which you refer?
Around 100 or so Australian cats were affected including my own. Colette made a partial recovery and remained paralysed in her rear legs for a further five years, passing finally in August 2014. Many others died of seizures or were euthanised. It was a very sad time. Champion withdrew from the Australian market after that and bloody good riddance – ‘scuse my “French”. I got stuck into the guy so far on the phone I reduced him to tears and still he was lying through his teeth about foreknowledge of irradiation. It took them 3 months to publicise the problem and withdraw their food from sale here after the problem arose and because the symptoms took three months to manifest, owners, who were kept in the dark and buying and feeding it, didn’t know they were slowly poisoning their pets. Champion actually threatened to sue the vets who suspected the food was the problem if they spoke out. That’s the kind of company you’re dealing with and supporting if you choose to feed your pets with Champion Petfoods products.
blowyourfunnyfuse
February 24, 2019 at 12:42 am
oh my god, wow. i really feel fooled by this company. i thought i was feeding my cats quality, healthy food for years and yet this is who i was supporting with my hard earned dollars. this is so angering!!
Peter
February 8, 2019 at 8:51 am
This will be interesting. The other Champion class-action was just dismissed. These companies seem to wriggle free, so much of the time.
Tyler
February 8, 2019 at 1:17 pm
How many Champion lawsuits are there? I read that the one in Wisconsin was dismissed, but the one mentioned in the article is in Illinois. I have also read of one based in California.
blowyourfunnyfuse
February 24, 2019 at 12:43 am
this company seems like a nightmare. absolutely ridiculous to have this many lawsuits, all alleging the same things…they should be put out of business for good!!
Laurie Raymond
February 8, 2019 at 2:46 pm
My rule of thumb has always been: never buy any pet food you see advertised on TV. Now I’ve expanded this to include slick marketing campaigns that use TV, internet, and other venues that target mass and high-end consumers. As advertising and marketing get more sophisticated, we have to get better at recognizing their tricks and deceptions.
David Essenfeld
February 22, 2019 at 9:54 pm
My 18 month old dog died on last Christmas Eve of an intestinal hemorrhage. I was feeding her exclusively with Orijen dog foods made by Champion. Two weeks before she died, I introduced a topper of Stella and Chewys freeze dried chicken. I have been wondering for some time now whether these foods which are billed as top of the market quality foods contributed to or actually caused her death which was horrible.
blowyourfunnyfuse
February 24, 2019 at 12:05 am
“Plaintiffs would not have paid this money had they known that the Contaminated Dog Foods contained and/or had risk of inclusion of levels of the heavy metals, pentobarbital, ingredients cross-contaminated with euthanized horse meat, toxins, BPA, non-regional and non-fresh ingredients, and/or unnatural or other ingredients that do not conform to the labels, packaging, advertising, and statements.”
No kidding !! Here I am scraping up pennies (sometimes literally) to buy Acana bags for my cats, supposedly very high quality ingredients, only to find this out. This is very, very frustrating.
Thank you for updating us, Susan.