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What "Grassfed" Definition is up Against

Tex

Well-known member
10/16/07
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Kastel, 608-625-2042
Ronnie Cummins, 218-226-4164



Lawsuits Announced Against Nation’s Biggest Organic Dairy
Class Action Suits Seek Damages from Sale of Fraudulent Milk


ST. LOUIS, MO / DENVER, CO – Acting on behalf of organic food consumers in 27 states, class action lawsuits are being filed in U.S. federal courts, in St. Louis and Denver, against the nation’s largest organic dairy. The suits charge Aurora Dairy Corporation, based in Boulder, Colorado, with allegations of consumer fraud, negligence, and unjust enrichment concerning the sale of organic milk by the company. This past April, Aurora officials received a notice from the USDA detailing multiple and “willful” violations of federal organic law that were found by federal investigators.

“This is the largest scandal in the history of the organic industry,” said Mark Kastel of The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy research group. Cornucopia’s 2005 formal legal complaint first alerted USDA investigators to the improprieties occurring at Aurora. “Aurora was taking advantage of the consumer’s good will in the marketplace toward organics, and the USDA has allowed this scofflaw-corporation to continue to operate,” Kastel added.

Law firms based in Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri have so far have filed one of the lawsuits in Missouri, with another suit, covering dozens of additional states where plaintiffs live, due to be filed in Denver tomorrow. The attorneys are seeking damages from Aurora to reimburse consumers harmed by the company’s actions and are requesting that the U.S. District Courts put an injunction in place to halt the ongoing sale of Aurora’s organic milk in the nation’s grocery stores until it can be demonstrated that the company is complying with federal organic regulations.

Aurora, with $100 million in annual sales, provides milk that is sold as organic and packaged as private label, store-brand products for some of the nation’s biggest chains, including Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, Safeway, Wild Oats, and about 20 others.

Independent investigators at the USDA concluded earlier this year that Aurora—with five dairy facilities in Colorado and Texas, each milking thousands of cows—had 14 “willful” violations of federal organic regulations. One of the most egregious of the findings was that from December 5, 2003, to April 16, 2007, the Aurora Dairy “labeled and represented milk as organically produced, when such milk was not produced and handled in accordance with the National Organic Program regulations.”


Cornucopia's research, since confirmed by a two-year investigation by federal law enforcement agents, found that Aurora was confining their cows to pens and sheds in feedlots rather than grazing the animals as the federal law requires. Furthermore, Aurora brought conventional animals into their organic milking operation in a manner prohibited by the Organic Food Production Act, a law passed by Congress in 1990 and implemented in 2002 by the USDA.

“We believe that there are tens of thousands of consumers across the United States who have been directly impacted by Aurora’s practices,” said Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association. “We are pleased to see this legal action. We will do what we can to ensure that organic continues to mean organic and that consumers get exactly that when they are paying premium prices for organic food,” Cummins added.

“I feel cheated by Aurora’s organic misrepresentations,” said Sandie Regan, an organic consumer from Crown Point, Indiana, and one of the parties to the lawsuit. “I am willing to pay more at the grocery store for organic milk because I believe the milk is healthier for me. But it doesn’t look like I was getting what I paid for,” Regan added.

In addition to Missouri plaintiffs being represented by the St. Louis, Missouri–based law firm Simon Passanante, the larger multistate Denver suit is being handled by, attorneys from Lane, Alton, Horst in Columbus, Ohio, Wolf, Haldenstein, Adler, Freeman, and Herz in Chicago, Illinois, and Gray, Ritter, and Graham, also based in St. Louis.

“We encourage anyone who has purchased some of Aurora’s private-label products to contact OCA or Cornucopia, and we will help them obtain justice,” the Cornucopia's Kastel added. Although not plaintiffs themselves, the two public-interest groups have supported the lawsuit through research and organizing. A list of the grocery chains supplied by Aurora, the nation's largest private-label bottler, can be secured by contacting OCA or Cornucopia.

Cornucopia and OCA point out that Aurora is a "horrible aberration" and that the vast majority of all organic dairy products are produced with high integrity. In a scorecard published last year, and available on their web site, Cornucopia rates over 90% of organic name-brand dairy products as truly subscribing to the letter and spirit of the law (available at www.cornucopia.org).

“Aurora’s actions have injured the reputation of the more than 1500 legitimate organic dairy farmers who are faithfully following federal organic rules and regulations,” noted Kastel. “We cannot allow these families to be placed at a competitive disadvantage.”

Many industry observers feel that the USDA’s enforcement mechanism broke down in the Aurora case. After career USDA staff drafted a Letter of Proposed Revocation, seeking to prevent Aurora from engaging in organic commerce, political appointees at the agency intervened, crafting an agreement allowing Aurora to remain in business.

"It is unconscionable that the USDA allowed Aurora to continue, after making millions of dollars, in this ‘ethics-based’ industry, when they had concluded that Aurora willfully violated the law," Kastel added. "However, there is a higher authority in terms of organic integrity than the USDA—that's the organic consumer. And they are about to make their voices heard through the courts."

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Copies of the lawsuits are available upon request.




The Cornucopia Institute, a nonprofit farm policy research group, is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Their Organic Integrity Project acts as a corporate and governmental watchdog assuring that no compromises to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces are made in the pursuit of profit.
 

Tex

Well-known member
Many industry observers feel that the USDA’s enforcement mechanism broke down in the Aurora case. After career USDA staff drafted a Letter of Proposed Revocation, seeking to prevent Aurora from engaging in organic commerce, political appointees at the agency intervened, crafting an agreement allowing Aurora to remain in business.



The USDA should be held accountable also. They allowed this "organic" milk to be sold in the US.

The USDA is worth nothing to the small guy. You have to "pay to play" in Washington.

It is ruining our democracy.

The USDA allows it to happen, the investors pocket the money, and the costs of getting justice in the courts is high.

Pay to Play.
 

Tex

Well-known member
PORKER said:
Shall I bring up the Joan Waterfield EVENT TOO!

JoAnn is like the crook they let get away-- intentionally. I think the mafia might have had a chance of being broken up if Bart Stupak could have done the questioning of her and gotten to the bottom of things. As it is, things haven't changed much except that some Senators and Congressmen are trying to take the power the USDA has squandered so the big pockets in business can retain control of our food industries.

If they had done it right, the capture of Joann W. could have lead to a messy RICCO ACT enforcement of a whole lot of rats that shouldn't be eating at the public's banquet.
 

Ben H

Well-known member
I need to find out how to get a hold of one of my Frat Brothers (Alpha Gamma Rho), he met the Daughter of one of the partners or the owner of Aurora Dairy while judging in college then ended up marrying her. He got a job with Aurora, I think the Florida farm, she was from Colorado, right after graduation, haven't talked to him since.

Not only was that a good financial move marrying into that, but she was also SMOKIN!
 

Tex

Well-known member
Ben H said:
I need to find out how to get a hold of one of my Frat Brothers (Alpha Gamma Rho), he met the Daughter of one of the partners or the owner of Aurora Dairy while judging in college then ended up marrying her. He got a job with Aurora, I think the Florida farm, she was from Colorado, right after graduation, haven't talked to him since.

Not only was that a good financial move marrying into that, but she was also SMOKIN!


I know that last part has resonance. The Supreme Court took time out of their busy work to hear the Anna Nichole case. Perhaps Judge Thomas had some influence on the court after all. Looks like they believed in getting paid while playing too.
 
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