Three of the bigger activist groups filed suit against Sanderson Farms, a major poultry-producing company. Politico’s Morning Ag Report says the Organic Consumers Association, Friends of the Earth, and Center for Food Safety all allege that the company is guilty of false advertising. Sanderson Farms’ chicken is marketed as 100 percent natural. The groups say the chicken contains a range of unnatural and even banned substances. The groups point to recent testing by USDA as proof of their accusations, saying the tests found 49 instances in which samples of the company’s products tested positive for synthetic drug residue. The groups say in their lawsuit, “33 percent of 69 FSIS inspections, conducted in five states, found residues that no consumer would consider natural.” The groups highlighted a number of the study’s findings, including 11 instances of antibiotics that are also used in human medicine, as well as some that are prohibited for use in animals. The groups say some of the products also tested positive for a steroid as well as growth promoters, all of which shouldn’t be in ‘100 percent natural’ products.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.