Does Rachael Ray Nutrish’s ‘Natural’ Dog Food Contain a ‘Potentially Harmful’ Herbacide? One Lawsuit Says Yes.

What kind of dog food do you feed your fur baby? If it’s anything from the Rachael Ray Nutrish’s dog food line, you may be interested to learn that a class-action lawsuit was recently filed against the company. According to the suit filed on August 1 against Ainsworth Pet Nutrition LLC dba Rachael Ray Nutrish, plaintiff Markeith Parks claims “the company’s Super Premium Food for Dogs bills itself as ‘natural,’ but actually contains the ‘potentially harmful’ herbicide glyphosate

What kind of dog food do you feed your fur baby? If it’s anything from the Rachael Ray Nutrish’s dog food line, you may be interested to learn that a class-action lawsuit was recently filed against the company. According to the suit filed on August 1 against Ainsworth Pet Nutrition LLC dba Rachael Ray Nutrish, plaintiff Markeith Parks claims “the company’s Super Premium Food for Dogs bills itself as ‘natural,’ but actually contains the ‘potentially harmful’ herbicide glyphosate.” In fact, the suit states:

“Rachael Ray Nutrish knows that consumers seek out and wish to purchase whole, natural foods for their pets that do not contain chemicals, and that consumers will pay more for foods for their pets that they believe to be natural than they will pay for foods that they do not believe to be natural…To capture this growing market, Rachael Ray Nutrish aggressively advertises and promotes the Products as ‘Natural.’ These claims are false, deceptive, and misleading. The products at issue are not ‘Natural.’ Instead, the products contain the unnatural chemical glyphosate, a potent biocide, and endocrine disruptor, with detrimental health effects that are still becoming known.”

Parks feels misled and said in the suit that, had he known at the time when he purchased the Rachel Ray Nutrish’s products for his dog that they contained glyphosate, “he would not have purchased or continued to purchase” the products. He also notes the dangers of glyphosate in the suit, alleging that the “chemical has been declared a ‘probable’ human carcinogen by a research arm of the World Health Organization, and has been shown to cause liver disease in rats at levels far lower than is allowed by the EPA.” Because of this, the suit goes on to read:

“No reasonable consumer would expect this controversial and potentially harmful synthetic chemical to be present in ‘Natural’ dog food…Rachael Ray Nutrish holds itself out to the public as a trusted expert in the sourcing and processing of dog food. Rachael Ray Nutrish knew what representations it made on the labels of the Products. It also knew how the dog food was sourced and processed, and that it contains glyphosate, an unnatural biocide.”

Bobby Modi, the Vice President of Pet Food & Pet Snacks for parent company The J.M. Smucker Company pushed back against the allegations detailed out in the lawsuit, though. In a statement, he said the company plans to defend itself against the misleading claims in the suit and added:

“We never use ingredients in our products that harm pets…We were disappointed to be recently notified of a lawsuit filed against us claiming we knowingly deceive pet parents about our products. Despite what this lawsuit claims, we would never use ingredients in our products that harm pets. The pesticide mentioned in the lawsuit, glyphosate, is commonly used by farmers but is obviously never added as an ingredient in our products. All our products meet or exceed federal food safety requirements. We plan to aggressively defend ourselves against this misleading lawsuit and hope it does not cause pet parents any additional unnecessary concern. If pet parents have any questions or concerns about our pet food or treats, we encourage them to contact us directly at 1-800-323-7738.”

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Rachael Ray Nutrish’s ‘Natural’ Dog Food Contains ‘Potentially Harmful’ Herbicide, Lawsuit Says

Rachael Ray’s dog food brand, Nutrish, sued for allegedly containing ‘potentially harmful’ herbicide: reports