Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Dog Food Tainted With Chemicals Is Thrown Out for Second Time

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

A class action lawsuit alleging that Champion Petfoods USA Inc. misled consumers by saying that its dog food was regionally sourced and failing to disclose it could contain trace amounts of heavy metals has been shut down by an appellate court.

On Wednesday, a panel of judges from the US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals supported an earlier summary ruling in the class action lawsuit, which said that lead Plaintiff Scott Weaver failed to provide sufficient evidence to back up his claims, Law360 reported.

“Summary judgment is the proverbial ‘put up or shut up’ moment in a lawsuit, and Weaver has failed to offer sufficient evidence to support his claims,” the 20-page opinion said.

Weaver argued in his class action lawsuit that Champion falsely marketed its “premium” Orijen and Acana dog foods by saying that they were “biologically appropriate” and contained fresh, “never outsourced” regional ingredients, when the foods were made from frozen ingredients that came from countries as far off as New Zealand.

The court said that the dog food labels did not claim all of the ingredients were 100 percent locally sourced and fresh, therefore they were not misleading, Law360 reports.

Weaver also alleged that the company failed to disclose that the dog food could contain traces of industrial chemical Bisphenol A, or BPA, and the barbiturate pentobarbital.

However, Appeals Court judges Daniel Anthony Manion, Ilana Kara Diamond Rovner, and Amy J. St. Eve said in the opinion that the level of BPA purportedly in Champion’s food wasn’t harmful to dogs, and it was undisputed that humans and animals are commonly exposed to BPA, Law360 wrote.

The judges added that Weaver stopped purchasing the dog food before there was a pentobarbital contamination in 2018, meaning he did not have standing to sue over pentobarbital.

“To survive summary judgment, Weaver needed to offer evidence that reasonable consumers were likely to be misled in a material way by the phrase ‘biologically appropriate,’ and he has failed to do so,” the opinion said.

In July 2020, U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller issued summary judgment on the class action lawsuit, saying it would be “extraordinary” to hold the company accountable for trace amounts of BPA in its dog food. Stadtmueller said small amounts of heavy metals were widespread and in all pet foods, and Champion did not intentionally add them to the food.

Weaver appealed the ruling through his counsel Rebecca A. Peterson of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP, arguing that a reasonable consumer would care about harmful metals in dog food and he said that he would not have purchased the food if he’d known the risk.

Wednesday’s judgement sided with the dog food manufacturer, shutting down Weaver’s claims.

Did you purchase any Champion Petfoods thinking they were “biologically appropriate”? Tell us what that meant to you in the comments section below!

Weaver is represented by Kenneth A. Wexler, Michelle Perkovic and Mark J. Tamblyn of Wexler Wallace LLP; Rebecca A. Peterson of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP; and Daniel E. Gustafson of Gustafson Gluek PLLC.

Champion is represented by Elliot H. Scherker, Francis A. Citera, Brigid F. Cech Samole, Bethany Jane Matilda Pandher and David A. Coulson of Greenberg Traurig LLP; and Derek J. Waterstreet and Susan E. Lovern of von Briesen & Roper SC.

The Champion Petfoods Heavy Metals Class Action Lawsuit is Scott Weaver v. Champion Petfoods USA Inc. et al., Case No. 20-2235, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Hill’s Pet Food $12.5M Class Action Settlement
• Recall Check: Freshpet Food for Small Dogs Recalled for Salmonella Concerns
• Recall Check: Sunshine Mills Recalls Dog Food due to Risk of Salmonella
• Burt’s Bees Markets ‘Highly Synthetic’ Dog Shampoo as Natural, Class Action Says