Iams Cat Food Slave Labor Class Action Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit was recently filed against food conglomerate Mars, Inc. and some of its subsidiaries, including the Iams Company, a popular distributor of pet food in the United States. The basis of the suit asserts that the defendants knowingly failed to disclose that the overseas production of Iams cat food involves slave labor practices, a violation of California law, where the suit was filed.

Plaintiffs Christina Wirth and Adam Wagner are leading the suit on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated. The overview of the complaint includes allegations of social and ethical irresponsibility by one of the largest conglomerates of food production in the United States. Thus, consumers of Iams cat food are unwitting participants in a production process that at its root inflicts slave labor on its workers, particularly its fishermen.

The Iams cat food production process, according to the suit, begins in Asia. The defendants in the suit work with their Thai partner, Thai Union Frozen Products, to import the cat food to the United States. Thai Union is Thailand’s largest seafood company and has controlling stakes in the country’s seafood and pet food canneries. These canneries receive shipment after shipment of fish from “motherboats,” large ships that do not fish themselves, but visit the smaller fishing vessels to resupply them and transport their catches to the canneries for processing. Thus, the smaller fishing vessels do not have to return to shore, and can essentially fish nonstop to ensure constant productivity and the highest profits.

Investigations and articles in high-profile outlets such as The New York Times and The Guardian have found that the deckhands on Thai fishing boats are often slaves trafficked from poor regions of Asia, men and boys sold to fishing boat captains to do dangerous and exhausting work for up to twenty hours a day with little or no pay. Refusal or failure to work can result in being beaten or even murdered.

The class action suit alleges the defendants’ material omissions and failure to disclose the appalling nature of the methods of production, particularly egregious since the defendants have publically denounced forced and slave labor. Had the plaintiffs been aware of the human rights violations involved in the production of Iams cat food, they would not have purchased the product or paid as much for it. Plaintiffs are seeking compensation for injury, including loss of money, as a result of the defendants’ unlawful, unfair, and/or deceptive practices.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Deceptive Advertising