Would you consider a smoked salmon product, made from farmed salmon fed a diet of chemicals and antibiotics, to be “natural” or “All Natural”?
Or is it more likely that the company peddling that product just hopes the word “natural” will hook more buyers?
TAKE ACTION: Tell Ducktrap: Stop falsely claiming that your smoked Atlantic salmon is “All Natural.”
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How likely is it that a consumer buying Ducktrap River of Maine “All Natural” smoked Atlantic salmon would have any idea that the salmon in that product was raised on chemicals and antibiotics, in an industrial fish farm nowhere near Maine or the Atlantic?
Not very, we think.
But Mowi, the Norway-based owner of the Ducktrap brand, is counting on claims like “All Natural,” “Made in USA” and “our approach to fish health and welfare is “second to none” to help the company sell more product.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Ducktrap: Stop falsely claiming that your smoked Atlantic salmon is “All Natural.”
After you use this form to send a message, call Ducktrap’s customer service line at 1-800-434-8727
Questions or concerns about false and misleading “natural” claims? Email us at fraud@organicconsumers.org
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 2, 2020 - In a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission, Organic Consumers Association, Animal Equality and Food & Water Watch accused Tyson Foods of misleading consumers by falsely claiming that Tyson chicken products are produced in a natural, environmentally responsible and humane way.
The complaint, filed on behalf of the groups by Richman Law Group, asks that the FTC investigate and take action to enjoin Tyson from making false and misleading product claims.
“Surveys consistently show that consumers seek meat products free of unnatural substances and produced sustainably and humanely,” said OCA’s international director, Ronnie Cummins. “We look to the FTC for oversight and enforcement to protect consumers against deceptive product claims.”
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Whether you’re looking to treat yourself to a breakfast garnished with smoked salmon, or planning to serve up pre-dinner appetizers of sliced smoked salmon atop crackers, buyer beware: When it comes to the claims made on smoked Atlantic salmon packages and websites, brands are often just blowing smoke.
Popular smoked Atlantic salmon brands entice consumers with promises like “premium,” “all natural,” “super fresh” and “healthy and nutritious.”
Some brands claim their products are “sustainably sourced.” On the issue of animal welfare, one owner of multiple smoked Atlantic salmon brands claims on its website that the company’s approach to fish health and welfare is “second to none.”
It all sounds great to the consumer. But here’s the real deal: All of these smoked Atlantic salmon products are made from salmon raised on massive industrial fish farms, and in some cases, nowhere near the Atlantic Ocean.
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The Organic Consumers Association today announced that it has sued Smithfield Foods for falsely advertising Smithfield pork products as the “safest” U.S. pork products.
The complaint was filed on behalf of OCA by Richman Law Group in D.C. Superior Court, under the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act.
“Consumers are unlikely to know that the USDA has notified Smithfield slaughter plants on multiple occasions that their pork was more likely to be contaminated with salmonella than similar products in slaughter plants of the same size,” said Ronnie Cummins, OCA co-founder and director.
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FINLAND, Minn. - Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and Clean Label Project (CLP) today released a new report revealing that many of the top-selling collagen peptide supplements sold on Amazon.com contain measurable levels of heavy metals.
Organic Consumers Association and Clean Label Project used the Amazon.com bestsellers list and Clean Label Project 2018’s protein powder investigation results as sources for the 28 products chosen for the study. Product samples were procured from local, national and online retailers using Clean Label Project’s Consumer Chain of Custody and Sampling Methodology.
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The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has sued Happy Egg Co. for false, deceptive and misleading advertising claims related to the use of the term “pasture raised.”
“Surveys confirm that animal welfare practices rank high on the list of consumer concerns,” said Ronnie Cummins, OCA’s co-founder and director. “By falsely claiming that the eggs it sells are ‘pasture raised,’ Happy Egg deceives consumers and diverts consumers’ spending dollars from competitors whose eggs come from farms that meet a true pasture-raised standard. Consumers who purchase Happy Eggs believing that they are supporting a certain animal-welfare standard are being cheated.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attorneys for Organic Consumers Association (OCA) filed a limited motion for summary judgment, with the D.C. Superior Court, in the nonprofit’s false advertising lawsuit, filed in July 2018, against Unilever-owned Ben & Jerry’s.
The motion asks the court to find that Ben & Jerry’s falsely claimed that its “Caring Dairy” animal husbandry standards were “required for all farmers” who supplied the dairy used in its products. The motion states that Ben & Jerry’s admitted that it uses milk from “conventional dairy sources” that do not adhere to “Caring Dairy” standards.
“Consumer protection laws are intended to protect consumers from advertising, marketing and packaging claims that are patently false,” said Ronnie Cummins, OCA’s international director. “This goal will be achieved only if companies like Unilever are challenged when they make false claims about their brands, and held accountable by the courts. OCA’s mission includes working on behalf of consumers to make sure our legal system defends consumer rights.”
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About a year ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made it official: Consumers can no longer buy paint removers containing methylene chloride, a chemical linked to cancer, cognitive impairment and other health issues. (In a controversial move, the agency stopped short of banning the chemical for commercial/industrial use).
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, in a statement issued November 22, 2019, said the “EPA’s action keeps paint and coating removers that contain the chemical methylene chloride out of consumers’ hands” in a “step that will provide important public health protections for consumers.”
Methylene chloride must be pretty bad for the EPA to ban it. After all, the agency refuses to ban chlorpyrifos, a known neurotoxin especially harmful to children, and glyphosate, the chemical in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller deemed a “probable human carcinogen” by the World Health Organization.
So how is it that Walmart and Amazon won't sell you any paint remover containing methylene chloride. But both retailers will sell you decaffeinated coffee that tests positive for methylene chloride?
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One of Ben & Jerry’s largest “Caring Dairy” farms was recently caught fudging its cow numbers to avoid state regulations, according to records obtained by Regeneration Vermont.
For more than 18 months, the Gosliga Farm in Addison misled state officials about its cow numbers, which kept them from being classified as a “large farm operation (LFO)” by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, a classification that triggers significantly more regulation and oversight.
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