The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), alleging the agency allowed poultry producers to use images that did not accurately depict their production methods.
The lawsuit specifically mentions the agency’s approval of Perdue Farms’ Fresh Line labels. According to ALDF, the imagery promoting those products portray chickens and turkeys grazing outdoors is not accurate.
ALDF asserts that using such imagery is a violation of the Poultry Products Inspection Act, which forbids the use in the marketplace of labels bearing false or deceptive images about how the animals used in the products are raised.
“The USDA has a legal responsibility to ensure animal product sellers are labeling their products accurately,” Animal Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Stephen Wells said in a press release. “Consumers are willing to pay more for higher standards of animal care—and companies like Perdue are taking unfair advantage of consumer sentiment by pushing a false narrative on their packaging.”
In its press release, ALDF said it received a letter from a representative of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which said “photos, colors and graphics used on packaging are not considered labeling claims.”
An earlier lawsuit filed by ALDF regarding labeling matters was unsuccessful. The organization alleged Hormel Foods acted deceptively through the use of its use of the word “natural,” stating that treating animals with antibiotics and raising them indoors is not natural. The Superior Court of the District of Colombia dismissed that lawsuit.
ALDF, on its website, describes itself as an organization with a mission to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. It accomplishes that mission, it says, “by filing high-impact lawsuits to protect animals from harm, providing free legal assistance and training to prosecutors to assure that animal abusers are held accountable for their crimes, supporting tough animal protection legislation and fighting legislation harmful to animals, and providing resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law.”
ALDF was also involved in the Prevent Cruelty California coalition, which pushed for the passage of the state’s Proposition 12 initiative.
