A new lawsuit has been filed against Nestle Purina challenging the company’s ‘Natural’ and ‘No Preservatives’ claims.
The FDA or any State Department of Agriculture rarely (if ever) bothers to validate pet food marketing claims. But thankfully, lawsuits have become a means for consumers to see some type of regulation over pet food. In this lawsuit, two Non-Profit organizations are challenging Nestle Purina’s labeling claims of “Natural” and “No Preservatives“.
From the press release:
Nonprofits Toxin Free USA and Clean Label Project filed a lawsuit against Nestlé USA and Nestlé Purina PetCare Company for deceptive marketing and sale of cat foods labeled as “natural” and with “no artificial preservatives.” Lab tests reveal that certain Purina cat food products contain the synthetic herbicide glyphosate and the artificial preservative ethoxyquin. The consumer protection lawsuit charges that Purina exploits consumers’ preference for pet foods marketed as “natural.”
The lawsuit challenges Purina’s Beyond Natural Cat Food. Quotes from the lawsuit:
Purina knows that consumers seek out and wish to purchase natural foods for their pets that do not contain artificial or synthetic chemicals. To capture this growing market, Purina advertises and promotes the Products as “Natural” and as containing “no artificial…preservatives”.
The lawsuit points out these claims on the Purina Beyond Cat Food label:
These claims are false, deceptive and misleading. The Products at issue are not “natural” or free of artificial preservatives. The Products contain residues of the unnatural biocide glyphosate and the artificial preservative ethoxyquin.
Purina itself tells consumers that “natural” means “[e]xisting in or caused by nature” and “not made or caused by humankind.”
The Purina webpage the lawsuit quotes, goes on to tell pet owners…
Per AAFCO’s guidelines, natural dog food products can include synthetic sources of essential amino acids, vitamins or minerals. The natural claim must include a disclaimer statement, though. You may see “Plus vitamins and minerals” on the package. This statement discloses the addition of synthetic nutrients.
And the lawsuit correctly points out that glyphosate or ethoxyquin is not an ‘essential amino acid, vitamin or mineral’ as would be required for the “Natural” label claim; both being found in this Purina product.
Again from the lawsuit:
Testing by Plaintiffs revealed the presence of glyphosate and ethoxyquin residues in the Products as shown in the table below.
Purina knew what representations it made on the labels of the Products. Purina also knew how the pet food was sourced and processed, and therefore knew or should have known that the Products contain residues of glyphosate, an unnatural biocide, and ethoxyquin, an artificial preservative.
Purina thus knew, or should have known, the facts demonstrating that the Products were mislabeled and falsely advertised.
To read the full lawsuit, Click Here.
Opinion: My thanks to these two organizations for filing this lawsuit. Pet owners have little to no assistance from regulatory authorities for misleading and false label claims. Your help to provide pet owners properly regulated pet food is appreciated.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Barb Wehrspann
June 17, 2020 at 12:06 pm
I’m so grateful Susan. Your work provides the reason Purina knows that consumers seek out and wish to purchase natural foods for their pets that do not contain artificial or synthetic chemicals.
Anthony Hepton.
June 17, 2020 at 1:20 pm
Susan, thanks for keeping me informed regarding Purina intransigence, I constantly relive their killing of so many pets with Beneful and hope these rascals will again be held accountable. Tony.
Dianne & Pets
June 17, 2020 at 2:08 pm
Let’s hope it gets somewhere. Personally, I take it as given that anything with fish has ethoxyquin, declared or not. And I would not trust anything from Purina.
Candence Griffin
June 17, 2020 at 4:02 pm
Hi Susan,
I was wondering when Pet Food companies would resume the use of Monsanto’s Ethoxyquin, compound formulated to preserve- wait for it – rubber, used in commercial applications. Back in the 1980’s, Ethoxyquin was used in dog food as a fat preservative. It was a cheap alternative. I was part of a coalition of breeder, exhibitors who began to boycott any product that contained this very, nasty compound linked to birth defects, loss of coat, extreme dermatitis, and a host of other undesirables.
As all of us were still exhibiting our dogs, we would challenge the representatives of those companies who were displaying their “good for your dog” products. We also encouraged fellow exhibitors to write these companies and protest the use of Ethoxyquin. Eventually, the companies relented and switched to vitamin E as a fat preservative.
I’m not surprised. . .
Cande Griffin
Neena
June 17, 2020 at 5:18 pm
In addition to the above issues, I recently learned that Purina uses soy Isolate protein (because kit’s CHEAP) in their cat food, which can mess with their hormonal system, leading to hyperthyroidism. My cat Matteo was on Purina EN for years, and guess what? He now has hyperthyroidism.
Tell everyone you know NOT to feed their cats Purina wet or dry food or any food with soy isolate protein.
Connor
June 17, 2020 at 8:26 pm
Doubtful this goes anywhere but will be interesting to see. Truth is Purina makes the best pet food in most categories, people just like to go after the big guys.
Regina
June 20, 2020 at 9:30 pm
Connor, are you new here? The usual readership of this website are folks who do not believe purina makes the best pet food, in any category. Just reading the labels, there is no comparison between purina and the brands that use nothing that should be in their own grocery carts. For instance, cats are carnivores. They need meat as the primary basis of their actual diet. Soy is not a good protein for cats. Neither are corn, wheat, by-products (if they can’t tell me what it is, I don’t trust it)
So many cats have health problems due to eating diets that their bodies were not created for.
Please read ingredients.
Trudie Solarz
June 17, 2020 at 10:25 pm
Dear Susan: I was very upset when I read the article about Purina’s “Natural” cat food not being natural. What can
be done to stop this false advertisement? I’m glad that there are people like you who inform the consumers, but please do something about this for the sake of all dogs and cats. Thank you.
Karen
November 18, 2021 at 10:20 am
Hello, my concerns of late are twofold. Our 2-1/2 yr old male cat was diagnosed a year ago w/crystals. We were told he needs a “special” vet ordered diet of both wet and dry. The wet is Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets UR Savory Selects Urinary St/Ox “Salmon Recipe” of which we are paying a hefty fee.
I started noticing inconsistencies with the food, some cans it looks shredded, others I open and it honestly looks like cut up chunks of tofu! What are my cats eating???
We are now feeding both our male and female cat this “unknown” stuff.
How do I determine what this actually is?
Susan Thixton
November 18, 2021 at 11:52 am
Hi Karen – Some pet foods do include a fabricated meat (not exactly a tofu meat, but close). Unfortunately, regulations do not require pet food manufacturers to disclose fabricated meat on the label. The manufacturer should tell you if you ask (via phone call or email), but they don’t have to. So my suggestion would be to first ask Purina about the inconsistencies and if the meat in the product is 100% muscle meat or if it is fabricated meat. I would also suggest you sharing your concerns about the ‘unknown stuff’ with FDA. Please email them at: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov and share your frustrations with not knowing what you are feeding your cats – ask for regulations that require more disclosure on pet food labels.