Blue Buffalo lawsuits have followed two main threads: a wave of false-advertising cases in the mid-2010s that ended in a $32 million consumer class settlement and a confidential settlement with Nestlé Purina, and a newer 2025 class action alleging the company’s grain-free dog food caused a family’s dog to die of heart disease. A separate lead-contamination suit was dismissed, and the brand has been through several product recalls that are not tied to the litigation.
The $32 Million “True Blue Promise” Class Action Settlement
The largest resolved case against Blue Buffalo is In re: Blue Buffalo Company, Ltd. Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, Case No. 4:14-md-02562, consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in October 2014.1Tycko & Zavareei LLP. $32 Million Settlement in Pet Food False Advertising MDL Consumers said Blue Buffalo broke its “True Blue Promise” that its food contained no chicken or poultry by-product meals, no corn, wheat, or soy, and no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors. They paid a premium on that promise. Testing said otherwise.
In December 2015, Blue Buffalo agreed to pay $32 million to settle the consolidated cases. The class covered any U.S. resident who bought Blue Buffalo products between May 7, 2008, and the date of preliminary approval. Class members who filed verified claims received between $5 and $200 depending on the proof of purchase they could provide. The settlement also required the company to put new measures in place to ensure ingredient claims were accurate and to tighten compliance practices with its suppliers.1Tycko & Zavareei LLP. $32 Million Settlement in Pet Food False Advertising MDL Blue Buffalo denied wrongdoing and said it settled to end “the uncertainties, burden and expense of further litigation.”2DVM360. Blue Buffalo Makes True Blue Promise, Settle $32 Million
How the False-Advertising Story Broke: Purina’s Lawsuit
The consumer cases followed a lawsuit by a competitor. On May 6, 2014, Nestlé Purina PetCare sued Blue Buffalo in the Eastern District of Missouri under the federal Lanham Act, alleging false advertising, disparagement, and unjust enrichment. Purina said an independent lab it hired had tested Blue Buffalo “Life Protection” formulas bought at retail on both coasts and found “significant percentages of poultry by-product meal.” It also alleged that products marketed as “grain-free” contained rice hulls, and that “LifeSource Bits” contained poultry by-product meal and corn.3Purina Newsroom. Purina Sues Blue Buffalo for False Advertising and Disparagement
Blue Buffalo denied the claims at first. The company’s CEO called Purina’s testing “Voodoo Science” and said Blue Buffalo “does not use chicken by-product meal or poultry by-product meal in any of our products.”4PR Newswire. Purina: A Year to the Day After Being Sued, Blue Buffalo Finally Admits By-Product Meal in a Substantial and Material Portion of Their Pet Food That changed in October 2014, when founder and chairman Bill Bishop wrote to customers that “one of its suppliers had mislabeled some ingredients.” The company identified the supplier as Wilbur-Ellis and said its Texas processing plant had shipped poultry by-products to customers who had ordered 100 percent chicken meal.5Truth in Advertising. Blue Buffalo Product
On May 6, 2015, exactly one year after Purina filed suit, Blue Buffalo admitted in court that a “substantial” and “material” portion of its pet food sold over the prior years had contained poultry by-product meal. The company asked to amend its complaint to name its suppliers as defendants, saying it “had no way of knowing” the products contained by-product meal.4PR Newswire. Purina: A Year to the Day After Being Sued, Blue Buffalo Finally Admits By-Product Meal in a Substantial and Material Portion of Their Pet Food On November 3, 2016, Purina and Blue Buffalo announced a separate, confidential settlement of the claims between them and asked the court to dismiss with prejudice.6Purina Newsroom. Nestlé Purina and Blue Buffalo Announce Settlement
The Canadian Class Action
Canadian purchasers brought their own case, Hardwick v. Blue Buffalo Company, Ltd. and Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc., Court File No. 16-67441, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, on the same “True Blue Promise” allegations. The court approved the settlement on July 29, 2021. Class members who had registered by September 8, 2019, received CAD$94.75 each, and CAD$375,000 was allocated to registered Canadian charities supporting cat and dog welfare.7Consumer Law Group. Blue Buffalo Pet Food Products Class Action
The Lead Contamination Case
A separate class action, Zakinov v. Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc., was filed in California in June 2017. The plaintiff alleged certain Blue Buffalo dog foods contained “material and significant levels of lead” while being marketed as healthy and “holistic,” and said their dog suffered kidney failure after eating the food. The products named were Blue Wilderness Chicken Recipe for Small Breed Adult Dogs, Blue Freedom Grain-Free Chicken Recipe for Small Breed Adult Dogs, and Blue Basics Grain-Free Turkey & Potato Recipe for Adult Dogs. A U.S. District Judge dismissed the case, ruling the claims were barred by the earlier $32 million settlement because the two cases were sufficiently similar.8ClassAction.org. Class Action Says Blue Buffalo Dog Food Contaminated With Lead
The 2025 Grain-Free and Canine Heart Disease Lawsuit
The most recent case is Walsh v. Blue Buffalo Co., LTD, Case No. 1:25-cv-05808, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and assigned to Judge John Robert Blakey.9Law360. Walsh et al v. Blue Buffalo Co., LTD Ryan and Diana Walsh of Lake Forest, Illinois, filed the class action after their goldendoodle Maya, who had eaten Blue Buffalo’s Wilderness Chicken Recipe Adult High-Protein Grain-Free Dry Dog Food for years, was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy in 2023 and died of congestive heart failure in October 2024 at age ten.10Lake & McHenry County Scanner. Lake County Family Files Lawsuit Against Well-Known Dog Food Company, Alleges It Caused Their Beloved Dog’s Death
The complaint, filed by the G Law Group with co-counsel Florek Law, alleges that grain-free diets containing peas interfere with the absorption of taurine, an amino acid essential for heart function, and that Blue Buffalo knew of the risk through internal research, veterinary studies, and thousands of FDA complaints, yet continued to market the food as “the healthiest food possible” made with “the finest natural ingredients.”11Pet Food Industry. Family Sues Blue Buffalo Over DCM, Grain-Free Claims The claims include violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, unjust enrichment, fraudulent concealment, misrepresentation, and failure to warn. The Walshes seek damages covering the cost of the food, veterinary bills, medication, and specialized diet, along with court-ordered changes to Blue Buffalo’s marketing and warnings.10Lake & McHenry County Scanner. Lake County Family Files Lawsuit Against Well-Known Dog Food Company, Alleges It Caused Their Beloved Dog’s Death
General Mills, Blue Buffalo’s parent company, has called the case “without merit” and filed a motion to dismiss.12CBS News Chicago. Lake County Family Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Blue Buffalo The case remains pending as of mid-2026.
What the FDA Has Actually Said About Grain-Free Diets
The science the Walsh complaint rests on is contested. The FDA began investigating a potential link between certain diets and canine DCM in July 2018 after seeing more reports in breeds not typically predisposed to the genetic form of the disease. Between January 2014 and April 2019, the agency received 515 reports involving 560 affected dogs and 119 deaths. Ninety-one percent of the reported diets were labeled “grain-free,” and 93 percent contained peas or lentils. Blue Buffalo was cited in 31 reports.13U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Investigation Into Potential Link Between Certain Diets and Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy In July 2019, the FDA named 16 brands most frequently appearing in reports, including Blue Buffalo.14NBC News. FDA Names 16 Brands of Dog Food Linked to Canine Heart Disease
FDA product testing did not reveal abnormalities in amino acid or mineral levels, and average nutrient levels in grain-free and grain-containing products were similar.13U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA Investigation Into Potential Link Between Certain Diets and Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy In December 2022, the agency said it would stop issuing public updates unless “meaningful new scientific information” emerged, saying the data did not establish a causal relationship. As of August 2024, the FDA maintained that no definitive cause had been identified, that it had not requested any pet food recalls, and that there was no definitive information the diets were “inherently unsafe.”15U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Questions and Answers: FDA’s Work on Potential Causes of Non-Hereditary DCM in Dogs
Blue Buffalo Recalls
Blue Buffalo has issued or been involved in several recalls over the years. None of them are the subject of the lawsuits above, but they often come up alongside them.
- April 2007: Multiple Blue Buffalo dry foods, canned foods, and treats were recalled during the industrywide melamine contamination crisis.16Truth About Pet Food. Pet Food & Treat Recall History A–Z
- October 2010: The company voluntarily recalled specific runs of BLUE Wilderness Chicken, BLUE Basics Salmon, and BLUE Life Protection Large Breed Adult Chicken dry dog foods after Michigan State University researchers identified 16 dogs across eight states with elevated blood calcium and signs of kidney damage from excess Vitamin D. No deaths were reported, and affected dogs generally recovered after a diet change.17Dog Food Advisor. Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall
- November 2015: Blue Buffalo recalled “Blue Kitty Yums Tasty Chicken Recipe” cat treats after the FDA confirmed the presence of propylene glycol, an ingredient not permitted in cat food. Two lots of 2-ounce pouches distributed nationwide in the U.S. and Canada were affected.18Food Safety News. Cat Treats Recalled for Possibly Containing Propylene Glycol
- March 2017: One lot of BLUE Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe Red Meat Dinner wet dog food was voluntarily recalled after the FDA advised of elevated levels of naturally occurring beef thyroid hormones. The recall was completed and later terminated by the FDA.19U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Blue Buffalo Voluntarily Recalls One Lot of BLUE Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe Red Meat Dinner
Blue Buffalo was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Wilton, Connecticut. General Mills completed its acquisition of the brand on April 24, 2018, in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $8 billion, and Blue Buffalo now operates within General Mills’ North America Pet segment.20General Mills Investor Relations. General Mills Accelerates Portfolio Reshaping With Acquisition of Blue Buffalo Pet Products