AvoDerm Pet Food Makers Defeats Class Claims in False-Ad Suit

Central Garden & Pet Co. and its subsidiary Breeder’s Choice Pet Foods Inc. convinced a federal judge to deny class certification for consumers alleging they deceptively advertised the AvoDerm line of pet food as using avocados as a key ingredient.

The consumers didn’t show they had a class-wide method of calculating damages related to their theory of liability, Judge Jon S. Tigar of the US District Court for the Northern District of California said Wednesday.

The consumers alleged the pet food line misleadingly claims it uses avocados as a “key ingredient,” despite avocado powder only making up a small percentage ...