File a Claim: $6.3 Million Midwestern Pet Foods Settlement Offers Refunds, Compensation for Pet Injuries

If you’ve bought Midwestern Pet Foods and/or Nunn Milling Co. pet food products, listen up: the time has come to file a claim for compensation from a class action settlement worth more than $6.3 million.

Benefits offered by the deal, which was preliminarily approved by the court on February 6, 2023, include refunds for product purchases and reimbursements for pet injury claims.

Read on to learn who can file a claim for compensation, which products are covered by the settlement, and more.

Who’s covered by the settlement?

The settlement, valued at $6.375 million, covers all consumers and entities residing in the United States who bought one or more pet food products—namely those that were recalled on December 30, 2020, January 11, 2021 and March 26, 2021—made by Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc. and/or Nunn Milling Co. (Read more below for how to find out exactly which products are covered.)

The official settlement website can be found at https://www.mwpfsettlement.com/.

If you are unsure as to whether you can take part in the settlement, contact the settlement administrator here.

How do I file a claim?

To file a claim for compensation, head to this page. If you have a 10-character unique ID number—which can be found at the top-center or top-right corner of the settlement notice you received—enter it and hit “Login” to proceed.

If you do not have a unique ID number, you can check whether you are eligible to file a claim by clicking the “Start a New Claim” button, upon which you will be asked about your purchases of recalled Midwestern Pet Food products and whether your pet was injured after eating the food.

Claims must be filed online or by mail by August 3, 2023.

The only way to get benefits from the settlement is by filing a timely claim. If you do nothing, you will receive no reimbursement and lose your right to sue Midwestern Pet Foods over the allegations at issue in this litigation.

What can I get from the settlement?

Consumers who submit a claim with proof of purchase—receipts, invoices, confirmation emails, etc.—will be reimbursed 100 percent of the money they spent on eligible Midwestern Pet Food/Nunn Milling Co. products.

Those who file a claim without proof of purchase can receive $25 for each bag of Midwestern Pet Food products they bought for up to two bags, meaning each claim submitted without proof of purchase is capped at $50.

The settlement also offers benefits with regard to certain pet injury claims. Consumers who submit a claim with proper documentation—invoices, receipts, vet records, and other evidence of actual out-of-pocket expenses or losses (or anticipated future expenses)—will be reimbursed for 100 percent of their approved documented losses.

According to the settlement website, each valid pet injury claim is initially capped at $150,000. The site says that if additional money is available in the settlement fund after all valid claims are paid to consumers, claims that were capped at $150,000 “will be eligible for additional funds.”

Pet injury claims submitted without documentation and supported solely by a declaration by the claimant will be paid as follows:

Class members who are breeders and file claims for pet injuries must also include with their documentation a copy of their commercial license or other state or federal permit that was valid at the time the pet died or became injured or sick.

If the value of the settlement fund cannot fully support all valid claims at their full value, the website says, then each valid pet injury and consumer food purchase claim will be decreased on a “pro rata basis.”

If there is money leftover in the $6.375 million settlement fund after all valid claims have been paid out and related expenses and fees are covered, then each valid pet injury claim submitted with full documentation “will be increased up to three times its original valuation,” the settlement site relays.

For example, a Fully Documented Pet Injury Claim initially approved for a $1,000 payment will be increased up to a $3,000 payment if sufficient funds are available in the Net Settlement Fund. Unless the Court orders otherwise, any increase described above will be capped at $10,000.”

Which Midwestern Pet Foods/Nunn Milling Co. products are covered?

A complete list of the Midwestern Pet Foods and Nunn Milling Co. products included in the settlement can be found here.

In total, 130 recalled products, which include those sold under the Earthborn Holistic, Unrefined, Sportmix, Venture and Pro Pac brands, are covered by the deal.

When will I get my money from the settlement?

Typically, money from a class action settlement is distributed after the deal has received final approval from the court. For the Midwestern Pet Foods settlement, a final approval hearing is on the books for August 21, 2023. Consumers who file valid claims should expect to receive their benefits from the settlement sometime after the deal clears this final hurdle.

Keep in mind, the settlement may run up against appeals and/or objections that delay final approval from the court. The official settlement website shares that it is “always uncertain whether such appeals can be quickly resolved, and resolving them can take months or even years.” For that reason, the website says, there is no way to tell at this time when reimbursement will be issued.

Consumers are urged to check back with the official settlement website for updates.

How did we get here?

A number of proposed class action lawsuits alleged defendants Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc. and Nunn Milling Company Inc. advertised and sold pet food products that were contaminated with dangerous levels of aflatoxins and salmonella, both of which can be deadly to pets. The cases were filed in the wake of several recalls voluntarily initiated by Midwestern Pet Foods.

On March 29, 2021, the court granted the plaintiffs’ motion to join together six proposed class action cases into litigation that came to be titled In re: Midwestern Pet Foods Marketing, Sales Practices and Product Liability Litigation.

The parties advised the court that a deal had been reached in mid-July of last year, and the court preliminarily approved the settlement detailed on this page on February 6, 2023.

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