What is the zignature dog food lawsuit

If you bought certain Zignature pet food products labeled as Grain Free or Chicken Free, you may be eligible for benefits in a class action settlement

Important Update: Following the December 12, 2022 Hearing, the Court granted final approval to the settlement.Copies of the Court's Orders are available on the Important Documents page.

What is this about?

Plaintiffs claim that certain pet food products manufactured or produced by Defendant Pets Global Inc (Defendant or Pets Global) and marketed or labeled as grain free or chicken free, were actually determined through third party testing to contain grain and chicken. Pets Global denies these allegations and believes that it has valid defenses to these claims. The Court has not decided who is right or wrong. Instead, both sides have agreed to the Settlement to avoid the risk and cost of further litigation.

Who is Included?

The Class consists of all individuals in the United States who purchased certain Zignature pet food Products marketed or labeled as Grain Free or Chicken Free for personal, family or household use, and not for resale, from June 2, 2017 through June 24, 2022 (the Class Period).

What does the Settlement provide?

If the Settlement is approved by the Court, Pets Global agrees to monetary benefits to Class Members who timely submit a valid claim. Pets Global also agrees to revise product labels and marketing references so that any product label that makes a chicken free and grain free claim no longer contains those representations. Further, Pets Global has agreed to audit its suppliers moving forward.

Zignature Settlement Agreement Includes Required Compliance of Regulations

In early 2021 a lawsuit was filed against Zignature Pet Food claiming the pet food brand included grains in Grain Free varieties and chicken in Chicken Free varieties. With Zignature parent company Pets Global denying any wrongdoing, a settlement has been reached.

The settlement agreement of this lawsuit does little to reimburse pet owners for purchasing potentially mislabeled pet food, offering Class Members with proof of purchase up to ten dollars ($10.00) for each purchase with a maximum of one hundred dollars and for consumers with no proof of purchase five dollars ($5.00) maximum.

But the settlement does something elsethat actually Zignature and FDA should have been doing all along.

Injunctive Relief: Pets Global agrees to revise Product labels and marketing references so that any Product label that makes a chicken free and grain free claim no longer contains those representations.

And

Auditing of Suppliers: Pets Global agreed to audit all of the manufacturing plants of suppliers for a period of 5 years following the Courts Final Approval Order. The audits of Pets Globals suppliers will happen at least once a year and include the following: the visual inspection of all manufacturing machines that process, store, or otherwise come into contact with the petfood manufactured within said facility and purchased by Pets Global, an audit of the manufacturers manufacturing process and sourcing records, to confirm the accuracy of the ingredients being used in Pets Globals products, and ensuring that all of the manufacturing processes used by the manufacturing plant adhere to quality control standards.

In other words, the settlement agreement forces Pets Global/Zignature to do what pet food regulations already require them to do.

The FDA website page titled Pet Food states (bold added):

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) requires that all animal foods, like human foods, be safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled.

A truthfully labeled grain free pet food would not include grain, a truthfully labeled chicken free pet food would not include chicken. If pet food brands were in compliance with regulations, there would be no false/misleading label claims and they would perform their own audits on a regular basis. But

The pet food industry is fully aware that FDA and State feed authorities dont ever audit manufacturers or DNA test pet food products to assure companies are in compliance of laws (and many other laws). In fact, some pet food manufacturers have handling FDA inspections down to (secret) company policy. Below are copies of internal documents provided by a pet food manufacturing employee, the inspection policy of the company he works for. The pet food manufacturer and/or any brand identifying information has been redacted to protect the employee.

Notice in the above, the title of the document is FDA Inspections Regulations. Appearing to make employees believe these internal policies are law when they are not. Also in this page, the pet food manufacturer tells employees to not allow the regulatory authority to sign a visitors log preventing any official record of FDA at the plant. And the pet food manufacturer refuses to allow regulatory to take pictures or record anything in the plant.

On this page the manufacturer provides instructions to what employees are supposed to Do during the inspection. This pet food instructs its employees to allow access to paperwork but any copies of documents would be delayed until after consulting corporate. And the last bullet point under Allow samples to be taken states Try to guide inspector to take from lot we have in our complete control. I was told that this manufacturer has a verified clean supply of each ingredient in their pet food, that clean ingredient is what employees are told to direct regulatory to for samples.

And on the above page, the document describes what employees are NOT supposed to do this pet food manufacturer makes it clear employees are not to offer any information to regulatory including providing FDA information on consumer complaints.

Note: In an effort to help educate the FDA to the tricks of some manufacturers, these documents were provided to Agency. To our knowledge, the FDA did not take any action.

At least we have lawyers.

Pet owners might not have a large selection of ethical, law abiding pet food manufacturers, and we might not have a regulatory system that bothers to do proper pet food investigations to better protect our pets but we do have lawyers that are filing suits which result in enforcement of law.

Two examples of previous pet food lawsuit settlements that also included compliance requirements were Evangers Pet Food and Champion Pet Food.

To those attorneys that are helping our pets thank you.

For more information on the Zignature settlement, Click Here.

Wishing you and your pet the best

Susan ThixtonPet Food Safety AdvocateTruthaboutPetFood.comAssociation for Truth in Pet Food

Become a member of our pet food consumer Association. Association for Truth in Pet Food is a a stakeholder organization representing the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and with FDA. Your membership helps representatives attend meetings and voice consumer concerns with regulatory authorities. Click Here to learn more.

Whats in Your Pets Food?Is your dog or cat eating risk ingredients? Chinese imports? Petsumer Report tells the rest of the story on over 5,000 cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Click Here to preview Petsumer Report. www.PetsumerReport.com

Find Healthy Pet Foods in Your Area Click Here

The 2022 ListSusans List of trusted pet foods. Click Here to learn more.

LEGAL NEWSLINE

LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) Some Zignature Limited Ingredient dog foods made by Pets Global actually contain grains and chicken and can cause allergic reactions, a new lawsuit says.

A group of plaintiffs filed suit in Los Angeles federal court on March 9 through attorney Alex Straus of Greg Coleman Law. The plaintiffs claimed they thought the Zignature foods they bought were worth the extra money they paid because of health claims made on their packages.

The suit notes academic research that found mislabeling in the pet food industry. At issue in the lawsuit are Zignature lamb and duck flavors.

The back of each bag also includes an ingredient list for the Zignature Limited Ingredient Diets. For example, chicken and wheat are not listed as ingredients on the Zignature Limited Ingredient Diets ingredient list, the lawsuit says.

In fact, the Zignature Limited Ingredient Diets (lamb and duck flavors) contain significant amounts of wheat and chicken (the defect), thereby making Defendants representations that the Zignature Limited Ingredient Diets (lamb- and duck-flavored) products are grain-free or chicken-free products demonstrably false.

An independent analysis apparently commissioned by the plaintiffs lawyers using DNA testing says the foods contain amounts above trace of chicken and wheat.

Pets Global issued a statement in response to the lawsuit that reads:

"We at Zignature are proud of our brand and the quality of dog food we create.

"It has recently been brought to our attention that a lawsuit has been filed against us for allegedly having misleading information on two Zignature formulas Duck and Lamb. The lawsuit alleges there is more than trace amounts of chicken and wheat in those two products.

"To further our efforts in investigating these unsupported claims, we are working closely with our production team for in-depth, proper testing associated with these allegations. To date we have not seen any testing results associated with this lawsuit or been allowed to investigate the claims in the lawsuit, such that we cannot determine whether the testing results are a result of cross-contamination (for example) or otherwise determine if the testing is from a clear, unbiased, and trustworthy investigation.

"Zignature takes these allegations very seriously, as we stand by our recipes which have never included any of the alleged ingredients (chicken or wheat) in any of the Zignature product recipes provided to our co-packers.

"We are presently investigating and contesting the allegations found in the complaint and will continue to provide you and your dog the quality you expect."

Zignature Dog Food Review (Dry)

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Which Zignature Dry Recipes Get Our Best Ratings?

Zignature Dog Food receives the Advisors second-highest tier rating of 4 stars.

The Zignature Dog Food product line includes the 17 dry dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile when available Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Zignature Turkey Formula was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

Zignature Turkey Formula

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Turkey, turkey meal, chickpeas, peas, flaxseed, natural flavor, turkey fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), dicalcium phosphate, salt, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, vitamin A supplement, niacinamide, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, biotin), taurine, minerals (zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, potassium chloride, copper proteinate, sodium selenite, manganese proteinate, calcium iodate), marine microalgae oil, mixed tocopherols (preservative), l-carnitine, rosemary extract, dried Bacillus coagulans fermentation product, dried Bacillus subtillis fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium bifidum fermentation product

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 4%

Red denotes any controversial items

Ingredient Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is turkey. Although it is a quality item, raw turkey contains up to 73% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost, reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.

After processing, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product.

The second ingredient is turkey meal. Turkey meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh turkey.

The third ingredient includes chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans. Like peas, beans and lentils, the chickpea is a nutritious member of the fiber-rich legume (or pulse) family of vegetables.

However, chickpeas contain about 22% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

The fourth ingredient lists peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. And like all legumes, theyre rich in natural fiber.

However, peas contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

The fifth ingredient is flaxseed, one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided theyve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

After the natural flavor, we find turkey fat. Turkey fat is obtained from rendering turkey, a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.

Turkey fat is high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life. Although it doesnt sound very appetizing, turkey fat is actually a quality ingredient.

The eighth ingredient is dicalcium phosphate, likely used here as a dietary calcium supplement.

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this Zignature product.

With 4 notable exceptions

First, we note the use of taurine, an important amino acid associated with the healthy function of heart muscle. Although taurine is not typically considered essential in canines, some dogs have been shown to be deficient in this critical nutrient.

Since taurine deficiency appears to be more common in pets consuming grain-free diets, we view its presence in this recipe as a positive addition.

Next, we find dried fermentation products in this recipe. Fermentation products are typically added as probiotics to aid with digestion.

In addition, this recipe contains sodium selenite, a controversial form of the mineral selenium. Sodium selenite appears to be nutritionally inferior to the more natural source of selenium found in selenium yeast.

And lastly, this food includes chelated minerals, minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Zignature Dog Food looks like an above-average dry product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 36%, a fat level of 16% and estimated carbohydrates of about 40%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 33% and a mean fat level of 16%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 44% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 48%.

Which means this Zignature product line contains

Above-average protein. Near-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.

When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the peas, chickpeas and flaxseed, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing a moderate amount of meat.

Our Rating of Zignature Dog Food

Zignature is a grain-free dry dog food using a moderate amount of named meat meals as its dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4 stars.

Highly recommended.

Zignature Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Zignature through April.

No recalls noted.

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.

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