Groups appeal dismissal of suit against Sanderson Farms

Two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that filed a lawsuit in 2017 that alleged Sanderson Farms’ claims of producing chicken products that are “100% natural” were false and misleading appeared in court on October 13, seeking to have the lawsuit revived.

The suit, filed by Center for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth, was dismissed in 2019.

The NGOs, represented by Elsner Law & Policy and Tomaselli Law, made oral arguments in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, appealing the federal district court's dismissal of the case. They assert that because Sanderson Farms does not engage in no antibiotics ever production of poultry, and because its chickens do not spend time outdoors, that its products are not “100% natural.”

The plaintiffs claimed that Sanderson Farms’ ads misled consumers about the company's use of antibiotics in its chickens, while downplaying what the organizations consider  serious public health risks associated with the routine use of antibiotics in poultry production. They also claimed that Sanderson Farms' alleged misleading statements about its production not only injured consumers, but also the efforts or public interest organizations to address such alleged public health risks, according to a press release from Center for Food Safety. 

The organizations launched a campaign to rebut the advertising claims made by Sanderson Farms, and in the initial suit, the NGOs said that it suffered as a result of spending money on that campaign. However, the district court judge hearing the case dismissed it, finding that the plaintiff organizations failed to establish injury to the organization sufficient to bring suit in federal court.

At the time the suit was filed in 2017, Sanderson Farms stated: “Sanderson Farms will vigorously defend this lawsuit. The company also intends to continue its marketing and advertising campaign to educate consumers on its position regarding the judicious use of FDA-approved medicines to treat sick chickens and to prevent disease in chicken flocks. Such use is consistent with Sanderson Farms' animal welfare obligations to the animals under its care, its environmental sustainability efforts and the company's obligations regarding food safety.”

The federal court panel of U.S. Circuit Judge Jacqueline Nguyen, Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley and U.S. Circuit Judge Margaret McKeown took the case under submission, reported Courthouse News Service.

Headquartered in Laurel, Mississippi, Sanderson Farms is the third largest broiler producer in the United States and the ninth largest in the world.