Purina allegedly paying to gag consumers who post on social media

In a class action lawsuit against Purina for including toxic substances in its Beneful brand dog food, it is claimed that Purina has been contacting consumers of their products who have posted stories of their dog becoming ill after eating Purina’s Beneful dog food. Purina wants to shut them up with a monetary payment and a contract that gags them.

Clearly Purina is rattled and so it should be. The complaint which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleges that Purina included substances toxic to animals such as arsenic, mycotoxins, lead and industrial grade glycols (IGGs) in its dog food and kept quiet about it.

The FDA prohibits the use of IGGs in food because of impurities in the manufacturing process. To use industrial chemicals in pet food seems extraordinary to me.

“Mycotoxins” are toxins produced by fungus occurring in grains in the food. This was detected by the Association for Truth in Pet Food when the conducted an independent test.

The class action includes claimants (plaintiffs) from fifteen states including, California, Florida and Washington. There appears to be many thousands of customers who have been through the hell of seeing their dog suffer illness and sometimes death after eating these Purina products, which are listed as:

• Purina Beneful Healthy Weight
• Purina Beneful Original
• Purina Beneful Incredibites
• Purina Beneful Healthy Growth For Puppies
• Purina Beneful Healthy Smile
• Purina Beneful Healthy Fiesta
• Purina Beneful Healthy Radiance
• Purina Beneful Playful Life

This article is about dog food but the subject matter is wider than that. This is really about the lack of ethics under which Purina operates. In fact it is even wider than that because there are serious failings in the pet food industry. The manufacturers cannot be trusted to always use ingredients which are truly healthy. They focus too strongly on profit and appear to care little about the cats and dogs they are feeding.

The names of the products containing these toxic substances – the word “healthy’ is consistently used – indicates a callous duplicity by the senior management of Purina. Shame on you.

Source: Amended Class Action Suit Filed Against Nestle Purina PetCare Company, Now Includes Plaintiffs in 15 States Across Country | Reuters