Reuters – Hormel Foods’ labeling of a meat product line as “natural” despite using the same hogs and production methods as its other brands shows the U.S. meat labeling system needs reforms, said consumer advocates and documents released on Nov. 15 from a lawsuit the company is close to settling.
The false advertising suit, brought in 2016 by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), an animal rights group, against Minnesota-based Hormel Foods alleged the U.S. pork company misled consumers by marketing its Natural Choice products as “all natural” and meeting “better standards,” according to the complaint.
The hogs used in Natural Choice pork products were raised in the same conditions and used the same slaughter methods as animals meant for other Hormel products, according to a 2018 deposition of a company executive released by ALDF and Public Justice, a public interest law firm that represented ALDF, under an agreement with Hormel.
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Consumers are chronically confused by the “natural” label, advocates say, and the issue is exacerbated by loose oversight from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which regulates meat labels.
“There’s no reason to think that Hormel’s practices are unique or different than any other company,” said David Muraskin, an attorney at Public Justice. “This is an endemic problem, not a Hormel problem.”
