Midwestern Pet Foods Class Action Settlement – Truth about Pet Food
A website has been established regarding a settlement agreement in the lawsuit against Midwestern Pet Food. The website states “If you are a person or entity residing in the United States who purchased one or more of the pet food products made by Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc. and/or Nunn Milling Co., you may be entitled to monetary benefits under a Class Action Settlement.”
Per the agreement, Midwestern Pet Food has “agreed to create a $6,375,000.00 Settlement Fund…for Pet Injury Claims, Breeder Claims, and/or Consumer Food Purchase Claims.” For veterinary treatment claims, it appears the settlement will pay “100% of approved documented losses”. However, the agreement also states under this category “Payment amounts may be reduced depending on the number of valid claims submitted.”
And, “Pet Injury Claims…Paid at $75 for pets that became ill but did not die and $150 for pets that died.” But again, the agreement states “Payment amounts may be reduced depending on the number of valid claims submitted.”
The lawsuit settlement also will pay 100% for documented pet food purchases, and up to $50 for undocumented pet food purchases.
Per the FDA Warning Letter to Midwestern Pet Food, “approximately 104 products of dry dog and cat diets” were recalled from October 2020 thru March 19, 2021 due to high levels of aflatoxin. FDA testing of Midwestern pet foods found aflatoxin levels “as high as 558 ppb.” The maximum amount of aflatoxin allowed in pet food is 20 ppb.
FDA inspection of Midwestern pet food facilities found “significant violations” of legally required food safety preventive controls. The FDA found that Midwestern “failed to follow proper (corn) sample preparation procedures, as outlined in the aflatoxin test kit manufacturer’s recommended procedure” leading to inaccurate test results.
Questions…
Based on the serious manufacturing failures of Midwestern Pet Food documented by FDA, is a $6 million dollar settlement enough?
When an FDA investigation of a recall documents serious failures of a manufacturer (legally required food safety failures), should the lawsuit settlement amount be doubled or tripled?
Personal opinion: Mistakes can happen to anyone. However when a pet food manufacturer is so reckless they don’t abide by legally required safety procedures and don’t read or follow the instruction manual for testing procedures – the penalty should be significantly more. Even prison sentences should be considered (it has happened in human food).
This all could have been prevented, but it wasn’t. These deadly pet food mistakes continue to occur. Lawsuit after lawsuit, reckless manufacturing errors continue to sicken and kill pets. Something needs to change.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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