Suit Against Wal-Mart, Michael Foods Says Egg Cartons’ ‘Outdoor Access’ Claims Are False

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Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Michael Foods, Inc., and a subsidiary that supplies private label eggs for Wal-Mart are facing a Washington consumer’s proposed class action that takes issue with the defendants’ labeling of their shell egg products. According to the complaint, the defendants’ eggs sold under the Organic Marketside brand name are represented as having been laid by hens that are “free to roam, nest and perch in a protected barn with outdoor access.” The suit claims that in reality, the hens are housed in industrial barns surrounded by enclosed “porches” that are “fully roofed and screened” and can only be accessed by some of the hens. The reasonable consumer, the case alleges, would not consider this arrangement “outdoor access,” noting that most of the chickens “are still stuck inside the dimly lit barn.”   

The complaint argues that the defendants have taken advantage of consumers’ desire to pay more for products represented to be from animals that were “raised in a humane manner” and have charged premium prices for “specialty eggs” that don’t live up to their labels’ claims.