While there are no guarantees that meat and poultry companies can avoid having greenwashing lawsuits filed against them, there are measures that can be taken to protect yourself.
Ryann Glenn, a partner with Husch Blackwell LLP, co-leads the law firm’s animal health and production team, and supports clients whose work centers on the agricultural and companion animal industries. While speaking at the 2025 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit on May 2 in Arlington, Virginia, Glenn defined greenwashing as a deceptive practice where companies make misleading or false claims about their environmental friendliness, often to boost their image or sales.
Several federal agencies regulate greenwashing, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but often, state attorneys generals and self-regulating organizations such as the Better Business Bureau also get involved.
Green Guides
Any agrifood company that wants to promote its products in some environmentally friendly manner should utilize resources to make sure the claims they wish to promote will be less likely to be challenged.
The FTC offers Green Guides, which Glenn recommends.
Ryann GlennRoy Graber
“They can be helpful when you structure your claims on your product and how you know they should be prhased, and what should be included on your label if you want to make ‘green’ claims about your products,” said Glenn.
“What they do is they provide some different definitions for claims, as well as examples of substantiation that you can look to in order to support these claims.”
The guides point out that it is important to make sure any claims and the qualifications for those claims should be clear and prominent, and accurate.
If you have a statement on the front of your label about your product being carbon neutral, for example, but maybe some aspect of your product really isn’t, you don’t want to include on the back of your label a super fine print of the qualification, because that is likely still going to be misleading and you’re likely going to find yourself on the opposite end of a class-action attorney demand letter,” she said.
Glenn also said if your claim applies to the product itself, but not necessarily the packaging, you should distinguish that on your label.
Another reason why Glenn advises using the Green Guides is that several states have adopted them into their own state laws.
Animal welfare claims
Glenn also gave advice concerning making claims concerning animal welfare and production claims.
While federal agencies like the FTC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may not have specific regulations that apply to food on some types of animal welfare claims, “that doesn’t mean you won’t get sued,” said Glenn.
Third-party verifications on animal welfare claims can be good, but they are not necessarily a safe harbor. Even when they are used, consumers may not know what they mean if you don’t provide further context on your label.
