NEW YORK — A proposed class action lawsuit filed back in April, accuses The Farmer’s Dog of deceptively marketing its fresh dog food as a healthy, nutritionally superior alternative to kibble while secretly formulating products with “excessive” and “dangerous” levels of fat that put dogs at risk of life-threatening pancreatitis.
The 22-page complaint alleges the subscription-based pet food company promotes its customized meals as fresh, wholesome, and made with “human-grade” ingredients — but those representations disguise the fact that its fat content is “grossly out of line” with canine dietary requirements.
According to the lawsuit, The Farmer’s Dog adds excessive fat to its products intentionally to make the food more palatable and calorie-dense while keeping costs low, since “[f]at is cheaper per calorie” than proteins or carbohydrates typically used in dog foods.
“Three out of four of Defendant’s recipes … have over 25% fat [dry matter], over 40% fat [as metabolizable energy], and over 45 g fat per 1000 kcal, which is well above typical or recommended levels of fat for most dogs,” the filing contends.
The lawsuit argues that high-fat dog food is “unreasonably dangerous” because it creates an increased risk of pancreatitis in otherwise healthy dogs, along with hypertension and obesity.
The complaint takes aim at the company’s marketing strategy, which relies on broad claims such as “whole meat” and veterinary endorsements to suggest the products are an “inherently” superior option. These “vague representations” lead consumers to reasonably believe the foods are nutritionally balanced and worth their premium price, the lawsuit alleges.
The case also claims consumers cannot readily access full nutritional information without first completing a multi-step registration process requiring details about their dog’s breed, age, and weight.
Even then, the suit says, the foods’ fat content is presented on product labels on an “as fed” basis — including moisture content — rather than a “dry matter” basis, significantly understating true fat content values.
The lawsuit, filed under the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act, seeks to represent all consumers in the United States who purchased The Farmer’s Dog products.
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