A judge in Washington, D.C., Superior court has dismissed a lawsuit against Hormel filed by Animal Legal Defense Fund, reports Eater. The lawsuit claimed Hormel "engaged in potentially misleading advertising of animal products," arguing that the Hormel Natural Choice label leads consumers to believe its meat products do not contain antibiotics or hormones.
The Food and Drug Administration has no guidelines for use of the term "natural," while the U.S. Department of Agriculture defines "natural" as "a product containing no artificial ingredient or added color" that "is only minimally processed." That means animals raised with hormones and antibiotics can still fall under the "natural" category.
Although the lawsuit wasn't successful, the plaintiffs showed that Hormel acknowledged there isn't a meaningful difference between Hormel Natural Choice meats and other conventional Hormel options. A Hormel employee stated in a deposition that there is "no separate manner in which the pigs raised for Hormel Natural Choice products are [different than] any other of Hormel's products, [like] Spam or any other lunch meat or bacon product." Full Story
Related: Healthy Foods Could Save Billions in Healthcare Costs; ‘Natural' Label Most Likely to Motivate Purchase.
from Specialty Food News http://bit.ly/2D7h7dA
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