HSUS files false advertising complaint against egg supplier

The Humane Society of the United States filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission accusing National Pasteurized Eggs Inc. of false advertising.

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Photo by Austin Alonzo
Photo by Austin Alonzo

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) filed a complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accusing National Pasteurized Eggs Inc. of false advertising.

The Washington-based animal activist group said the Lansing, Illinois, pasteurized egg company is potentially breaking false advertising law with its packaging. Davidson’s Safest Choice brand egg packaging’s images of a red barn in a green field, the complaint said, deceive consumers by falsely representing the hen’s housing conditions.

Davidson's eggs

Davidson's Safest Choice eggs. Image from National Pasteurized Eggs Inc.

HSUS, an instrumental party in the increasingly global rush toward cage-free egg production, said National Pasteurized Eggs' eggs are produced in battery cages or indoor cage-free housing and the packaging tricks consumers into thinking the birds are raised free-range or have access to the outdoors. The complaint said battery cages also represent a risk of spreading salmonella and the product should not be marketed as salmonella-free.

The FTC investigates and works to prevent unfair methods of competition, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices affecting commerce. A cover letter attached to the October 14 complaint said the FTC’s oversight and enforcement “are consumers’ only hope for avoiding deception regarding production practices that are cruel and a risk to public health.”

An FTC spokesman told the Chicago Tribune the agency doesn't often take action on complaints about egg marketing. It hasn’t since 1996, when it ruled on an Eggland's Best claim regarding deceptive cholesterol-related claims.

National Pasteurized Eggs is being acquired by Post Holdings Inc., the parent company of Michael Foods Inc. The deal is expected to close in early 2017. Michael Foods is the nation’s third-largest egg company and is undergoing a cage-free transition.

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