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Atlantic salmon products that ALDI advertises as “sustainable” are actually produced in ways that “shock the conscience,” a new nationwide class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff Jessica Rawson filed the class action lawsuit against ALDI Inc. Tuesday in an Illinois federal court, alleging the company employs false and deceptive marketing of its fresh Atlantic salmon products labeled with the phrase “Simple. Sustainable. Seafood.”
“The products are not sustainable but instead are made from salmon industrially farmed using unsustainable practices that are environmentally destructive and inhumane,” Rawson alleges.
Rawson says ALDI is one of the largest food retailers in the United States, with more than 2,000 stores across the country, and that its “sustainable representations” lead consumers to believe that its salmon is sustainably sourced in accordance with high environmental and animal welfare standards.
In reality, the salmon is farmed in inhumane conditions that harm the natural environment, the claim states. “These practices shock the conscience.”
The products are made from Atlantic Salmon sourced at least in part from Chile, the class action alleges. It says Atlantic Salmon are not native to Chile — instead, they are raised in large industrial fish farms known for their unsustainable production methods.
“Salmon farms in Chile use an ecologically dangerous method of salmon production known as net pen aquaculture, where thousands of fish are crowded into cages or ‘pens’ in natural waterways,” the class action states. The crowded conditions are inhumane, the claim alleges, and lead to rampant sea lice infestations.
This form of farming has been banned in United States jurisdictions due to concerns over environmental risks due to the free exchange of waste, parasites and disease between pens and the surrounding environment, the claim adds.
“To enable the salmon to survive in these stressful, crowded, and unsanitary conditions, large amounts of toxins and pesticides are used.
“Testing of ALDI’s Products has revealed the presence, in the finished Product intended to be consumed by humans, of one such toxin—ethoxyquin—which is routinely used as a preservative in industrial fish feed.”
Rawson is looking to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased the product, plus a subclass of consumers who bought it in New York, and a subclass who purchased the products in other named states.
She is seeking damages, interest, costs, fees and a jury trial. Rawson also seeks declaratory and injunctive relief in the form of an order declaring that ALDI’s deceptive marketing of the products is unlawful.
“Even today, members of the proposed Class are purchasing the unlawfully marketed Products, and will continue to do so unless ALDI’s deceptive marketing is enjoined,” the claim states.
Meanwhile, a similar class action lawsuit has been filed against Ducktrap River of Maine, alleging its supposedly sustainably sourced salmon is produced through unsustainable, environmentally destructive means. The class action was filed by some of the same lawyers who just filed against ALDI.
Do you buy products marked as sustainable? Let us know what you think of this class action in the comments!
Rawson is represented by Christopher J. Esbrook and Daniel S. Tyler of Esbrook Law P.C., and Kim E. Richman and Jay R. Shooster of Richman Law & Policy.
The ALDI Unsustainable Salmon Class Action Lawsuit is Rawson et al., v. Aldi Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-02811, in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois.
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42 thoughts onALDI’s ‘Sustainable’ Salmon Is Environmentally Destructive, Inhumane, Class Action Lawsuit Claims
Add me please. I’ve been buying a lot of this salmon for over a year