Animal rights group urges FTC to take action to protect consumers who are allegedly being misled.

Krissa Welshans, Livestock Editor

December 13, 2018

2 Min Read
HSUS asks feds to investigate Pilgrim’s Pride’s 'deceptive' labels

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week to investigate what it alleges is “deceptive marketing claims” made by Pilgrim’s Pride, the second-largest chicken producer in the U.S. HSUS said the labeling misleads consumers to believe the company treats its chickens better than other chicken producers.

“Statements made on the company’s website and its ‘100% Natural’ claims on certain product labels indicate to consumers that Pilgrim’s chickens were produced under natural and humane conditions on bucolic family farms by farmers using the highest standards,” HSUS wrote in the letter, adding, “These representations are untrue; the practices used by Pilgrim’s Pride suppliers, at the direction of Pilgrim’s Pride, fall far below the level of animal care that a reasonable consumer would expect based on the company’s representations.”

Kitty Block, acting president and chief executive officer of HSUS, noted in her blog that HSUS conducted an undercover investigation last year, after which it alleged that animals suffer at chicken production and slaughtering facilities connected to Pilgrim’s Pride. Since then, she said Pilgrim’s has failed to make any significant changes to improve the lives of more than a billion chickens its facilities produce each year, adding, “but Pilgrim’s Pride continues to use deceptive marketing tactics, telling consumers that it not only treats chickens humanely but that it treats them ‘as humanely as possible.’”

HSUS said there are “more humane methods” available to Pilgrim’s Pride and that the company should adopt them if it wants to accurately claim that its birds are “raised, transported and processed as humanely as possible.” For example, HSUS said Pilgrim’s could raise slower-growing chickens and use controlled-atmosphere stunning systems.

“Consumers care deeply about the welfare of animals raised for food and rely on advertising and marketing claims to identify animal products that they consider to be more ethically produced,” Block noted in her blog. “We urge the FTC to take action to protect millions of conscientious consumers who are now being misled by Pilgrim’s Pride into thinking they are purchasing chicken that was humanely produced when all the evidence points to the contrary.”

About the Author(s)

Krissa Welshans

Livestock Editor

Krissa Welshans grew up on a crop farm and cow-calf operation in Marlette, Michigan. Welshans earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Michigan State University and master’s degree in public policy from New England College. She and her husband Brock run a show cattle operation in Henrietta, Texas, where they reside with their son, Wynn.

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