In a decision described as a “watershed ruling for consumer protection of all types” by animal rights group the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), the District of Columbia Court of Appeals has revived a case filed in 2016 by ALDF accusing Hormel Foods of falsely advertising lunch meats and bacon as a ‘Natural Choice.’
In the original lawsuit,* the ALDF argued that Hormel’s national advertising campaign ‘Make the Natural Choice’ was false and misleading, given that “there is nothing natural about the way Hormel’s Natural Choice products are produced.”
Reasonable consumers, added the ALDF, would expect Natural Choice products to “be derived from animals who were provided access to the outdoors, were given opportunities to graze or forage…” and that animals used to produce ‘natural’ meat are “not fed artificial growth hormones.
“ALDF’s work has been frustrated by the rampant presence in the marketplace of meat labeled and advertised as 100% natural or all natural that is anything but – products derived from animals raised in the most unnatural and cruel conditions, cramped together in cages or pens indoors, and fed a steady diet of antibiotics and other veterinary drugs.”
‘We reverse the trial court’s judgment and remand for further proceedings’
Hormel originally prevailed in the case, with the DC Superior Court finding that the ALDF’s claims were pre-empted by federal meat labeling laws and that the nonprofit lacked standing to bring suit vs Hormel.
However, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals begged to differ on both counts, and has just determined that the ALDF does have standing to bring the case and that claims about Hormel’s print and digital advertising are not impacted by federal meat labeling laws.