A 2016 lawsuit brought against Hormel Foods is once again in the headlines. The case, brought by the Animal Defense Legal Fund (ALDF), arose from allegations that Hormel’s “Make the Natural Choice” advertisements violated consumer protection laws by materially misleading consumers. The ALDF objected to Hormel’s advertising claims, which claimed that Natural Choice products were “100% natural”, “all natural,” contain no added preservatives, and utilized terms like, “honest,” “safe,” and “wholesome.”
In early April, however, the lawsuit abruptly ended when the court ruled, among other things, that the ALDF’s claim was pre-empted under federal law. Generally speaking, federal law takes precedence of state and local laws. As it relates to the Hormel case, the Federal Meat Inspection Act and Poultry Products Inspection Act each contain a pre-emption clause that precludes states from imposing labeling or packaging requirements that differ from the federal requirements.
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