Press Release  AG Campbell Secures $495K Settlement With Two Food Distributors For Selling Meat And Eggs From Inhumanely Confined Farm Animals

Boston — Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell today announced a settlement agreement with two food provision companies – Connecticut-based City Line Distributors LLC and New Hampshire-based Poultry Products Company of New England LLC, each operating in Massachusetts as Prime Source Foods – for allegedly violating Massachusetts’s Animal Cruelty Prevention Law. The agreement resolves allegations that the companies misled Massachusetts consumers and unfairly competed in the marketplace by selling products derived from farm animals confined in a cruel and unlawful manner. 

As part of the settlement, the companies will pay $495,000 in penalties to the Commonwealth and must refrain from selling noncompliant meat and eggs to Massachusetts consumers. The settlement also requires Prime Source to implement resource planning systems to prevent future noncompliance. 

“Massachusetts consumers deserve to know that the meat and egg products they purchase do not come from cruelly treated farm animals,” said AG Campbell. “I will continue working to ensure that all products sold in the Commonwealth comply with our legal standards and that no company gets an unfair advantage by breaking the law.” 

“MDAR has long recognized that animal welfare is directly tied to animal health,” said Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) Commissioner Ashley Randle. “Massachusetts residents overwhelmingly support the humane treatment of animals within our food system to promote high-quality food and ethical agricultural practices. We are grateful for our partnership with the Attorney General’s Office to enforce these vital standards on behalf of our consumers and farmers.” 

The Animal Cruelty Prevention Act received overwhelming public support when it passed by ballot initiative in 2016. The law prohibits inhumane practices of keeping farm animals confined in crates that prevent the animals from turning around, lying down, or fully extending their limbs. Under the law, food producers that keep animals in noncompliant conditions are barred from selling their meat and egg products in Massachusetts.  

Following a Civil Investigative Demand issued by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), investigators found that Prime Source had violated the Consumer Protection Act and the Massachusetts Animal Cruelty Prevention Act by marketing its products as “all natural,” when the source animals were raised in unnatural conditions, and of “superior selection,” despite the food products’ failure to comply with state requirements. 

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Andrew Goldberg, of the AGO’s Environmental Protection Division, with assistance from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.   

###