Nestle’s Purina Hit With ‘Made in USA’ False Labeling Class Action

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On Monday, a proposed class action lawsuit was filed against Nestle and its pet food division, Purina, alleging the companies engaged in misleading advertising by touting their Ultramix and Organix brands as being American-made when they contain foreign ingredients.

Plaintiff Marsha Sensenig of Illinois stated that the dog food made by Purina’s new company Merrick Pet Care (the company purchased by Purina in July) contains foreign-made ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, starch and amino acids. Sensenig said that despite the foreign origin of the dog food components, the labels advertise “Made with Love in the USA.”

Sensenig claims that she purchased Ultramix Grain Free & Poultry Free Adult Dog Food to feed to her pet. The label on the packaging states that the product was “Made with Love in the USA” just like all other dog food packaging in the Ultramix and Organix lines. However, the pet food in the product lines all contained foreign-sourced ingredients, according to the Purina class action lawsuit.

The Nestle Purina lawsuit seeks to recover damages that the plaintiff incurred, stating that Sensenig “paid more for the products than they were actually worth. She believed the products to be made in the USA and relied upon that in her purchase decision.”

Recalls of pet food have been “rampant” in recent years, according to the claims in the Nestle class action lawsuit. These recalls have brought increased awareness to consumers as well as a desire to have domestic-made foods to avoid possible contamination with bacteria, toxic levels of vitamins, mold, heavy metals and even human antiviral drugs, the claim asserted.

The plaintiff seeks to represent potential Class Members in several states that have consumer protection laws that are similar to those of Illinois. These states include California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Washington.

Sensenig alleges that the pet food company has violated the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and similar state statutes. In addition to Class certification, she is seeking injunctive relief requiring the companies to cease the mislabeling of their pet food products, damages and attorneys’ fees.

A similar Nestle Purina class action lawsuit was filed last month in California federal court by Sean Randall who alleged that Organix cat food is labeled as being “Made with Love in the USA” but actually contains foreign ingredients. Randall stated that contaminated ingredients from China were responsible for the deaths of “hundreds, and perhaps thousands” of pets in 2007.

Sensenig is represented by John E. Norris, Frank Davis, Wesley W. Barnett, and Dargan Ware of Davis & Norris LLP and Gerald Bekkerman and Jennifer Bekkerman of Bekkerman Law Offices LLC.

The Purina Pet Food False Labeling Class Action Lawsuit is Sensenig v. Nestle USA Inc. et al., Case No.3:16-cv-50022 in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois.

UPDATE: On April 21, 2016, Nestle Purina urged an Illinois federal judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing it of falsely labeling its Ultramix and Organix dog foods as “Made in USA” because the complaint is too vague.