Big Heart Pet Food Class Action Lawsuit Allowed to Proceed

A Big Heart pet food class action lawsuit challenging “grain free” labeling has been allowed to move forward thanks to a ruling from a California federal judge.

U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick denied arguments from Big Heart Pet Brands Inc. that attempted to dismiss claims from plaintiff Judith Hough. Hough claims Big Heart pet food is misleadingly advertised as “grain free” despite the presence of grains, corn and soy.

Big Heart had rallied against these allegations, arguing in their motion for dismissal that the latest complaint from Hough centers on testing of a bag of dog food Hough did not purchase herself. Despite these arguments, Judge Orrick ruled in favor of Hough, finding this testing is sufficient to support her allegations as an example of the pet food contents.

The pet food manufacturer also argued there could be other explanations for the grain, corn and soy detected through testing of the dog food products.

Although Judge Orrick acknowledged there could be possible explanations, he found “it should be obvious” that the potential for another explanation doesn’t mean Hough’s claims are implausible. The judge noted that, during the current pleading stage of litigation, Hough isn’t required to prove her claims definitively.

“Taking the allegations in the [second amended complaint] as true and drawing all reasonable inferences in Hough’s favor, she has alleged a plausible false advertising theory,” Judge Orrick concluded. “While Big Heart ‘may ultimately prevail on this issue on summary judgment or at trial,’ at this stage her allegations remain plausible.”

Although Judge Orrick largely allowed Hough’s claims to move forward, he did dismiss the plaintiff’s allegations under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act as well as equitable relief, injunctive relief and punitive damages.

According to the dismissal order, Hough does not oppose these dismissals because the claims at issue were “inadvertently” left on the complaint after an October order from Judge Orrick.

The original pet food class action lawsuit was filed in June 2019, contending Big Heart’s Grain Free Easy to Digest Salmon Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Recipe Dog Food is mislabeled as containing no grains, corn or soy protein ingredients.

Despite these representations, independent testing of the products allegedly showed the dog food does in fact contain all three of these ingredients.

The original plaintiffs contended two of their dogs suffered allergic reactions after eating the Big Heart pet food. These plaintiffs were later dismissed from the case due to COVID-19 issues, plaintiff attorneys told Law360. Hough was substituted as lead plaintiff in an amended complaint.

“Consumers are willing to pay a premium for the Nature’s Recipe Food because it is specifically represented to be ‘grain free,’ formulated for the particular health needs of their dogs, and consistent with certain ingredient, quality, and manufacturing standards,” the Big Heart pet food class action lawsuit argues.

“Defendant misrepresents the ingredients of Nature’s Recipe Food in order to collect a price premium from unsuspecting consumers.”

Hough argues she and other consumers were injured by Big Heart’s practices because they were deceived into overpaying for the products.

Claims against Big Heart pet food survived a previous motion to dismiss in March 2020 after the manufacturer tried to toss the first amended complaint.

In ruling on that motion, Judge Orrick deemed the effort by Big Heart to be premature and allowed the original plaintiffs’ false advertising claims to move forward.

However, the judge did allow for dismissal of other claims for injunctive relief, equitable relief and punitive damages in a move similar to the most recent dismissal ruling. These claims were dismissed by Judge Orrick with leave to amend. Despite this, the claims failed to prevail through the second dismissal motion from Big Heart.

Did you purchase Big Heart pet food products? Did you think they were grain free as advertised? Let us know in the comment section below.

Hough and the proposed Class are represented by Jonathan Shub and Kevin Laukaitis of Shub Law Firm LLC; Gary E. Mason, Danielle L. Perry and David Lietz of Mason Lietz & Klinger LLP; Gregory F. Coleman and Lisa A. White of Greg Coleman Law PC; Jeffrey S. Goldenberg of Goldenberg Schneider LPA; Charles E. Schaffer of Levin Sedran & Berman LLP; Philip Friedman of Friedman Law Offices; and John Hunter Bryson of Whitfield Bryson LLP.

The Big Heart Pet Food Class Action Lawsuit is Judith Hough v. Big Heart Pet Brands Inc., Case No. 3:19-cv-03613, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Land Rover InControl Computer Scrutinized in Class Action Lawsuit
• Pecans Prompt Publix Holiday Cookies Recall
• What Are the Side Effects of Oxycide Daily Disinfectant Cleaner?
• Ethicon’s Surgical Stapler Recall: What Are the Risks?