New Lawsuit Against Nutro Pet Food

From ClassAction.org “A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that Mars Petcare US, Inc. has falsely marketed its Nutro Natural Choice dog foods as containing ‘No Artificial Flavors, Colors, or Preservatives’ when, in reality, the products contain artificial preservatives.”

From the lawsuit complaint: “The Products’ labels prominently represent that they contain ‘No Artificial Flavors, Colors, or Preservatives’”:

“This representation is false. Nutro Natural Choice dog foods contain both citric
acid and mixed tocopherols. Citric acid and tocopherols are both artificial preservatives.”

“While there is a natural form of citric acid extracted from fruit, this is not the form
used by Nutro in the Products. This is because ‘[a]proximately 99% of the world’s production of [citric acid] is carried out using the fungus Aspergillus niger since 1919,’ and the use of naturally produced citric acid in commercial foods is prohibitively expensive.”

“Virtually all citric acid used in U.S. commercial food—including that used in the
Products—is produced through a multi-step industrial manufacturing process, not by extraction from any natural source.”

The lawsuit explains the industrial manufacturing process of citric acid:

“The modern citric-acid process begins with glucose (typically derived from
genetically modified corn) which is fermented with the industrial mold Aspergillus niger in large-scale bioreactors. The resulting fermentation liquor is then chemically precipitated with calcium hydroxide to form calcium citrate, which is subsequently reacidulated with sulfuric acid and crystallized into refined citric acid. Chemical solvents such as n-octyl alcohol and synthetic isoparaffinic petroleum hydrocarbons are used to extract the citric acid from the A. niger fermentation liquor, and frequently survive the reacidulation process in fragmentary form.”

“These steps—microbial fermentation, chemical precipitation, and acid-base
reacidulation—are classic hallmarks of synthetic manufacture, not natural derivation. The citric acid in the Products meets this definition precisely: it is not extracted from fruit or any natural material but is manufactured from industrial feedstocks using fermentation and chemical processing. Reasonable consumers would not understand ingredients derived from these processes as ‘natural.’”

The lawsuit also claims “The Tocopherols In the Products Are An Artificial Preservative”.

“D-alpha tocopherol is a natural tocopherol, typically derived from vegetable oils
such as soybean, sunflower, rapeseed, or wheat germ oil.”

“By contrast, dl-alpha tocopherol is a synthetic tocopherol derived from
petrochemical sources. Its manufacturing process involves the synthesis of
trimethylhydroquinone (TMHQ) and isopropyl, which are both sourced from petrochemical feedstocks such as acetone, phenol, and isobutylene.”

“There is a substantial cost difference between the two: natural d-alpha tocopherols
cost between half again, to twice as much per kilogram as synthetic dl-alpha tocopherols. This price difference reflects differences between the two forms as to ease of manufacture and the price of substrates.”

“Reflecting this cost difference, virtually none of the tocopherols used as a
preservative in pet foods is natural d-alpha tocopherol. Virtually all of these tocopherols are synthetic dl-alpha tocopherols.”

Because many different pet foods include citric acid and tocopherols and make similar ‘No Preservatives’ label claims, we assume there are quite a few manufacturers closely watching this lawsuit.

Click Here to read the full lawsuit.

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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