Champion Petfoods’ Defeat of Class Status in Deception Suit OK’d

Champion Petfoods USA Inc. beat plaintiffs’ challenge to the denial of class status in a suit alleging it duped buyers about the ingredients of high-end Acana and Orijen dog food, as the Ninth Circuit affirmed the purchasers failed to show common issues dominated the litigation.

Jennifer Reitman, Carol Shoaff, and Erin Grant alleged Champion touted the products as “biologically appropriate” and used various phrases portraying premium ingredients yet used inferior ingredients and failed to disclose the presence of heavy metals and pentobarbital.

Even though the challenged food products contained a common packaging message, too many individual issues predominated because the ...