Plaintiffs target Tyson, Big Heart Pet Brands

From Petfood Industry:

A federal class action lawsuit has been filed against Tyson, claiming its pet treats do not accurately include “Made in the USA” on their labels.

The suit, filed January 11 in California, says Tyson labels certain pet treat products as made in the US, but should not because some of the product components are sourced from outside the country.

Tyson says it disagrees with the lawsuit and it will fight it.

“Our pet treats are made with meat and poultry produced right here in the United States,” a Tyson spokesman said in a report.

The lawsuit does not target specific Tyson pet products, but refers to Nudges.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit also filed another, similar class action lawsuit on the same day against Big Heart Pet Brands and J.M. Smucker Co.

In 2010, Tyson Pet Products Inc. announced it would launch a line of dog chews to be produced at a plant in Independence, Iowa, USA.

“The chews segment of the US pet treat market is a US$1.2 billion business growing at a rate of 8% a year, and we believe there is significant untapped opportunity,” said Jeff Webster, group vice president of renewable products for Tyson Foods.

Tyson vows to fight class action, says pet treats are made with American ingredients

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - Tyson pet treats accurately include 'Made in the USA' on their labels, a company spokesperson recently said in response to a federal class action lawsuit filed earlier this month that says otherwise. 'We disagree with this lawsuit and will fight it,' Tyson Foods Senior Director of Public Relations Gary Mickelson said in a statement to Legal Newsline.