A 2016 lawsuit brought against Hormel Foods is once again in the headlines. The case, brought by the Animal Defense Legal Fund (ALDF), arose from allegations that Hormel's "Make the Natural Choice" advertisements violated consumer protection laws by materially misleading consumers.

Major media outlets and a handful of industry pundits quickly attached the "landmark" label to a recent multimillion-dollar jury verdict against Murphy-Brown, the hog production division of Virginia-based Smithfield Foods.