Rachael Ray Nutrish Dog Food Class Action Gets Dumped

A class action lawsuit alleging Rachael Ray Nutrish dog food contains a dangerous weedkiller was tossed by a federal judge for lack of specificity.

Lead plaintiff Markeith Parks alleged in the class action lawsuit that Rachael Ray’s brand of dog food contained glyphosate, a type of herbicide, despite labels indicating that Nutrish was “natural.”

Parks claimed that the labeling misled consumers who would not expect the chemical linked to the weedkiller Roundup to be in the supposedly natural pet food.

The maker of Rachael Ray Nutrish dog food, Ainsworth Pet Nutrition LLC, pushed back, noting that Parks did not include the amount of the weedkiller found in the products in the class action complaint.

Parks contended in response that including any amount of glyphosate and labeling the product “natural” is misleading, but U.S. District Court Judge Louis L. Stanton disagreed.

“A reasonable customer would not be so absolutist as to require that ‘natural’ means there is no glyphosate, even an accidental and innocuous amount, in the products,” notes the memo supporting the order to dismiss. “The presence of negligible amounts of glyphosate in a dog food product that do not have harmful, ‘toxic,’ or ‘carcinogenic’ effects is not likely to affect consumers’ decisions in purchasing the product and is thus not harmful.”

The judge noted that the story might change if Parks can show that there is a “material” amount of the weedkiller in Rachael Ray Nutrish dog food.

The Nutrish class action lawsuit’s claims for breach of warranty and unjust enrichment were also dumped, along with a demand for a court order requiring Ainsworth to stop misleadingly market Rachael Ray Nutrish dog food.

Judge Stanton pointed out that Parks did not allege that he would buy Nutrish ever again, but this could be changed in a subsequent pleading.

Ainsworth attempted to argue that the class action lawsuit’s false advertising claims was preempted by U.S. Food and Drug regulations; however, Judge Stanton found that FDA regulations regarding the use of pesticides do not have a preemptive effect on false advertising claims.

The company also asked for the court to halt proceedings in light of an anticipated guidance from the FDA about the use of the term “natural” on food labeling.

Judge Stanton determined that because the Rachael Ray Nutrish dog food class action would need to be amended otherwise to continue, the stay was not necessary.

The Rachael Ray Nutrish dog food class action lawsuit alleges that chemicals found in the pet products are dangerous and that consumers would not expect the ingredient in a weedkiller to show up in a natural product.

The plaintiff is represented by Kim E. Richman of Richman Law Group.

The Rachael Ray Nutrish Dog Food Class Action Lawsuit is Markeith Parks v. Ainsworth Pet Nutrition LLC d/b/a Rachael Ray Nutrish, Case No. 1:18-cv-06936-LLS, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

UPDATE: On Feb. 20, 2020, a New York federal judge dismissed an amended class action lawsuit that claims Rachael Ray Nutrish dog food is labeled as being “natural” even though it contains a trace amount of a herbicide.

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