'Human food grade' to stay on petfood labels

Earlier this year, the Ohio Department of Agriculture refused to grant a license to The Honest Kitchen to sell its petfood products in the state, citing the fact that the labels were misleading because they describe the company's petfoods as "human food grade". After a six-month lawsuit, the court has ruled in favor of The Honest Kitchen, citing the company's right to truthful, commercial free speech. Ohio Department of Agriculture had acknowledged that the products were human food grade, yet claimed that stating the fact on the labels could be confusing to customers, who might be unable to determine if the diets were intended for animals or humans. The court determined that the labels were not untruthful or misleading, and ruled that The Honest Kitchen has a constitutional right to make truthful statements about the quality of its products, on the labels.