A lawsuit has been filed accusing Purina of falsely advertising that some of its dog food products represented are “grain free” or containing no corn, wheat or soy.
Purina Pro Plan Adult Sensitive Skin & Stomach Salmon & Rice Formula, Purina Pro Plan Adult Sensitive Skin & Stomach Lamb & Oat Meal Formula, and Purina Beneful Grain Free with Farm-Raised Chicken accented with Blueberries, Pumpkin and Spinach are the subjects of this lawsuit filed in August.
“However, independent testing of the Subject Foods confirms that these representations are false. Both Pro Plan formulas contain significant amounts of wheat, while the Beneful formula contains significant amounts of soy,” says the suit.
Legal action against dog food manufacturers started after a group of researchers published a report in 2014 accused the dog food industry of making false claims as to the ingredients.
“Since 2014, virtually all scholarly researchers have found that pet food sold to consumers frequently contains non-conforming ingredients, and significant discrepancies between pet food products’ labeling and their actual ingredients appears to be commonplace among pet food manufacturers.
“Before December 2014, little or no peer-reviewed academic research was published concerning the accuracy of label claims with respect to ingredients present in canine foods” the suit says.
“In December 2014, a group of researchers found that only 18% of the pet food samples they tested completely matched the label claims with respect to the content of animal by-products.
“Thus, 82% of the products analyzed by the researchers contained non-conforming ingredients when compared to their label claims.
“The December 2014 study hypothesized that raw materials used in the preparation of the canned food products contained multiple protein types and may have contributed to contamination.
“By 2018, research into pet food products’ label claims and the presence of non-conforming ingredients intensified.
“Out of the 40 products analyzed in one study, the ingredients of only 10 products correctly matched their label. Of the remaining 30 products, 5 did not contain the declared animal species ingredients and 23 others revealed the presence of undeclared animal species.
“Two of the products’ labels were vague and their accuracy was indeterminable. This 2018 study found that mislabeling was an especially widespread problem in pet foods used for “elimination diets” (i.e., used to investigate food allergies).
