ST. LOUIS — A lawsuit filed Tuesday claims Boulder-based Aurora Organic Dairy milk fails to meet federal organic standards and asks a judge to stop the company from selling its product.
The dairy, one of the nation’s largest organic-milk producers, has repeatedly said its organic certifications are valid.
The lawsuit filed in federal court by customers Kristine Mothershead and Leonie Lloyd of St. Louis claims the dairy sold milk labeled as organic, at prices much higher than nonorganic milk, when it knew it didn’t meet standards for organic certification.
The lawsuit comes less than two months after the dairy announced an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture over its operations, following a USDA investigation of complaints regarding the dairy’s organic certification.
USDA officials said they had found that the dairy had not ensured that its cows were converted to organic cows, which involves the amount of organic feed the animals consume. Dairy officials said they were selling off 1,000 cows from a farm in Platteville that were in question.
Dairy officials said they had not yet read the complaint but that they have not misled consumers.
A similar lawsuit was expected to be filed today in federal court in Denver, according to the Cornucopia Institute.
The Cornucopia, Wis.-based institute, a farm-policy group, had filed the complaints leading to the USDA investigation.
Aurora Organic Dairy chief executive Marc Peperzak said in a written statement that the company is prepared to fight.
