A
California animal-welfare organization, Compassion Over Killing, is suing
Kroger Co. for marketing Perdue Farms chicken as raised “cage free” and in a
“humane environment”.
Anna
Ortega is named as the person filing the complaint, but Compasion Over Killing
seeks to turn it into a class-action lawsuit which would ramp up potential
costs if Perdue Farms and Kroger are judged guilty.
The
lawsuit has been filed in Los Angeles in the Superior Court of California.
Kroger labels
the Perdue Farms chicken under its "Simple Truth" store brand. The
company denies Ortega’s allegations.
Kroger
issued a statement saying "we want customers to know that our Simple Truth
chicken exceeds industry animal welfare standards and is accurately labeled.
“Simple
Truth chickens are raised by our supplier in cage-free environments and fed a
100 percent vegetarian diet with no antibiotics ever."
The same claims are made for Simple Truth turkey on Kroger’s
website.
I've seen the Perdue chicken TV ads here in Boulder, Colorado, this week and frankly it's commercial chicken farmers who ought to be more upset than the welfare activists.
There is the implication in the ads that Perdue chickens are raised on special rations without synthetic hormones or risky additives and that their housing is special.
Such balderdash!
