Class Action Alleges Gorton’s Tilapia Products’ ‘Sustainability’ Claims Are False

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The largest producer of fish sticks in North America faces a proposed class action that alleges the company’s tilapia products are not sustainably sourced as advertised.

The 35-page suit against Gorton’s Inc. claims that although the company touts its tilapia, including the “Grilled” and “Natural Catch” products, as sustainably sourced in accordance with high environmental and animal welfare standards, the fish, in reality, are industrially farmed using “unsustainable practices that are environmentally destructive and inhumane.” 

“Gorton’s intended for consumers to rely on its claims about sustainability, and reasonable consumers did and do, in fact, rely on these representations,” the lawsuit states. “By deceiving consumers about the nature and sourcing of the Products, Gorton’s is able to sell a greater volume of the Products, charge higher prices for the Products, and take away market share from competing products, thereby increasing its own sales and profits.” 

According to the complaint, the Gorton’s tilapia at issue is sourced, at least in part, from China. The suit relays that tilapia are not native to China, and are raised in and sourced from “large industrial fish farms known for their unsustainable production methods.” 

More specifically, tilapia farms in China use an “ecologically dangerous” method of production called pond aquaculture, whereby thousands of fish are crowded into shallow ponds, the filing states. Per the lawsuit, pond aquaculture is “particularly risky” in that it is typically done in regions vulnerable to river flooding events. Because pond cultivation can occur in flood-vulnerable regions, experts have concluded that diseases and escaped tilapia have spread into the surrounding environment, which can cause the fish to vastly outcompete local fish species, according to the suit. 

The case says that to enable the tilapia to survive in these “stressful, crowded, and unsanitary conditions,” the fish are “routinely treated with antibiotics and biocides,” and given food treated with ethoxyquin, a synthetic antioxidant preservative. 

Further, the lawsuit states that aside from having a harmful impact on the surrounding environment, fish raised through pond aquaculture are subject to unnecessary suffering, “contrary to what consumers believe the Gorton’s claims about sustainability to mean.” 

The filing states that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected more than 200 tilapia shipments from China between 2007 and 2018, citing the presence of harmful chemicals and antibiotics. 

Overall, the lawsuit contends that the Gorton’s sustainability claims at issue are likely to deceive reasonable consumers. 

“Had Gorton’s not made the false, deceptive, and misleading representations, Plaintiffs and the Class would not have been willing to pay the same price for the Products, would have chosen competing products, and/or would not have purchased as much of the Products,” the suit says. 

The lawsuit looks to represent all consumers who bought Gorton’s tilapia products in the United States within the applicable statute of limitations period and until the date of class certification. 

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