What was recalled
This page documents a lawsuit-only event, not an FDA recall. On March 1, 2018, a class-action lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court (Central District of California) against Champion Petfoods USA Inc. and Champion Petfoods LP (the maker of Acana and Orijen pet foods) alleging "negligent, reckless" practices, false advertising, and failure to disclose the presence of heavy metals and BPA in the company’s pet foods. The plaintiffs sought class-action certification for U.S. consumers who had purchased Acana or Orijen products.
The lawsuit cited third-party testing that claimed to find arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, and BPA in Acana and Orijen products. The highest arsenic level cited was 3,256.40 mcg/kg (3.26 mg/kg), which Champion noted was below the NRC maximum tolerable level of 12.50 mg/kg. The average arsenic level Champion reported across its products was 0.89 mg/kg. Coverage at PetfoodIndustry’s March 2018 article documents the original complaint allegations; The National Law Review’s 2023 case-summary article documents the eventual dismissal. No FDA recall was issued; the FDA did not make a finding of adulteration or misbranding under FDA regulatory authority. The case proceeded through civil litigation alone.
Why it was recalled
This page documents the legal-process outcome of a class-action lawsuit, not an FDA recall. The plaintiff allegations centered on Champion’s product labeling and marketing: Acana and Orijen position themselves as "Biologically Appropriate™" diets sourced from fresh regional ingredients, and the lawsuit alleged that the presence of heavy metals in finished product contradicted that positioning. Champion’s defense rested on three claims: (1) the metal concentrations are below NRC maximum tolerable levels and FDA action levels, so they do not adulterate the product under any regulatory standard; (2) heavy metals at trace levels are present in essentially all U.S. food (human and pet) because they occur naturally in agricultural soil and water and are taken up into ingredient streams; (3) Champion’s product labels and marketing do not claim the absence of heavy metals.
On March 31, 2022, the district court granted summary judgment for Champion, dismissing all heavy-metal fraud-by-omission claims. The court reasoned that "a reasonable consumer could have discovered that Champion’s pet foods had a material risk of containing some measurable amount of heavy metals" — meaning the plaintiff allegations could not establish the legal element of a deceptive practice. On June 6, 2023, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s ruling. The case is effectively closed. A separate Champion Pet Foods cat food lawsuit was filed later targeting similar allegations against Acana and Orijen cat formulas; that case is at a separate procedural stage as of 2026.
Health risks for your pet
No consumer pet illnesses were reported in connection with the 2018-2023 Champion Pet Foods heavy metals litigation. The plaintiff complaint did not document specific pet illness cases tied to heavy metal exposure from Acana or Orijen consumption; the complaint focused on labeling and disclosure theories rather than consumer-illness theories. Heavy metal toxicity in dogs and cats from food sources is a real clinical phenomenon at sufficient exposure levels: arsenic at acute high doses causes GI signs, weakness, and renal injury; mercury at chronic exposure causes neurologic signs, ataxia, and tremors; lead at chronic exposure causes GI signs, neurologic signs, and anemia; cadmium at chronic exposure causes renal injury and bone demineralization. The Champion heavy metal levels cited in the lawsuit (e.g., 3,256.40 mcg/kg arsenic = 3.26 mg/kg) were below the NRC maximum tolerable level for canine and feline diets (12.50 mg/kg arsenic), so the trace concentrations would not be expected to produce acute or chronic toxicity at standard feeding rates.
What to do if you bought affected product
The lawsuit is dismissed and no FDA recall is in effect for Acana or Orijen. Pet owners currently feeding Champion Petfoods Acana or Orijen do not need to discontinue feeding based on the dismissed litigation. If you have concerns about heavy metal exposure from any commercial pet food, the structural reality is that trace heavy metal concentrations are present in essentially all U.S. agricultural-source food products (human and pet) due to soil and water content; the relevant question is whether concentrations exceed established action levels (FDA action level, NRC maximum tolerable level), which the litigated Champion concentrations did not. Consumers seeking lower trace-metal exposure should look for brands publishing third-party heavy metal assay results; few pet food brands currently do this routinely.
How this affects KibbleIQ’s grade
Acana and Orijen are in the KibbleIQ scored database; we score each brand on its current ingredient list per our published methodology. The 2018-2023 heavy metals litigation does not affect Champion Petfoods’ current ingredient-list scoring because: (1) no FDA recall or adulteration finding was made; (2) the cited heavy metal concentrations were below NRC maximum tolerable levels and FDA action levels; (3) the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed via summary judgment and appellate affirmation. KibbleIQ’s methodology assigns Acana and Orijen scores based on ingredient quality, AAFCO substantiation, and rubric-defined positive and negative factors; heavy metal disclosure controversies do not currently affect the scoring directly. Recall-history scoring under methodology v2 will not include dismissed civil litigation; the relevant signal for the methodology is FDA-confirmed adulteration findings or manufacturer-initiated voluntary recalls. Champion Petfoods has not had an FDA recall on the Acana or Orijen lines. For now, our recommendation: read both our current Champion Pet Foods review AND this page when evaluating the brand.