Judge Algenon Marbley of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio recently granted an injunction against Purina Animal Nutrition based on  misleading claims.  The lawsuit was initiated by Kalmbach Feeds and was filed in early June citing the Lanham Act and the Ohio Deceptive Trade Practices Act. 

Shortly after the launch of the Purina promotional program, feed regulators in Kansas, Minnesota and the Food and Drug Administration questioned the ‘health claim’ implying protection as advanced by Purina. This resulted in the company withdrawing the implicated statements. In mid-June, Purina consented to an order relating to the implied and expressed claims of protection against avian influenza and withdrew all scientifically unsubstantiated statements.

The Court ruled that Purina should refrain from issuing unsupported health claims and was ordered to post a retraction on the company website as reproduced below:-

Pursuant to an Order of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio dated November 12, 2025, Purina hereby gives notice that it previously advertised Farm to Flock 18% Layer Hen Food as having a ‘built-in defense against avian influenza,’ ‘Defend[ing] Against Viruses, Like Bird Flu,’ and ‘helping defend against viruses like bird flu.’ At the preliminary injunction stage, the Court found that Purina engaged in false advertising because these statements were not scientifically grounded and lacked a scientific basis. Purina retracts these statements, as well as any other representation that Purina’s Farm to Flock 18% Layer Hen Food defends against, protects against, prevents, mitigates, or provides immunity to the effects of avian influenza, bird flu, or other viruses.