Global Animal Partnership Tries to Toss PETA’s Consumer Protection Suit; PETA Fires Back
If you’ve ever shopped at Whole Foods or other grocery stores, you may have seen meat with an “animal welfare certified” label on the packaging. These labels are designed to make shoppers believe that the animals whose parts are in them were treated better than animals on farms without this certification, but a PETA lawsuit filed in October 2025 claimed that this program is a misleading scam. As alleged in the lawsuit, Global Animal Partnership (“G.A.P.”), the Whole Foods–backed “animal welfare” “certifier,” falsely touts the “independence” of its farm inspectors, when, in reality, G.A.P. and the sole entity responsible for conducting these inspections are under the same management. Demonstrating that you cannot “Trust the Label,” G.A.P. slaps “animal welfare certified” labels on the flesh of animals who have been kicked, slammed, and endured many other egregious cruelties.
G.A.P. Tries to Dismiss the Suit—and PETA Fires Back
Apparently, G.A.P. wasn’t too pleased with us calling out its humane-washing scheme, because it’s trying to get the lawsuit tossed. But consumers deserve to know the truth: No matter the label, animals raised and slaughtered for food suffer. In a bid to maintain our consumer protection complaint, PETA Foundation lawyers filed an opposition to G.A.P.’s motion, standing firm for transparency and accountability.
What Does PETA’s Lawsuit Aim to Do?
PETA’s lawsuit exposes one of the food industry’s biggest cons—“humane” and “welfare” certifiers mask animal suffering—and seeks to put pressure on companies to stop lying to shoppers and profiting from severe acts of cruelty to animals.
It has taken PETA’s undercover investigations and whistleblower reports—not G.A.P. farm inspectors—to expose cruelty to animals. At G.A.P.-certified facility Farmer Focus, for example, a whistleblower reported that chickens had bruised, broken, and dislocated wings from being slammed into cages for transport to the company’s slaughterhouse.
The suit centers on allegations that G.A.P. makes false assurances to consumers that its “animal welfare” standards are enforced by “independent” auditors—and that G.A.P. has gone to great lengths to hide the damning truth. What’s the dirty secret? Per the lawsuit, a glaring conflict of interest—the CEO of the company that manages G.A.P. and the owner of the company that performs its “animal welfare audits” are the same person: William Jay Friedman.
That means the organization responsible for certifying “animal welfare” on farms would seem to have a financial interest in keeping farms certified, even when animals suffer.
PETA’s lawsuit also alleges that G.A.P.’s claim of “independence” has always been false, as it has always been deeply connected to Whole Foods Market.
Whole Foods:
- Initiated what eventually became the G.A.P. program.
- Had a Whole Foods executive remain involved as G.A.P.’s “Executive Director” from 2014 to 2022, despite spinning off G.A.P. as an “independent” organization in 2008.
- Has continuously held a seat on G.A.P.’s board, and with the departure of four board members in October 2025, Whole Foods’s stake in and influence on the board only grows.
This Whole Foods executive remained involved as G.A.P.’s Executive Director from 2014 until Organic Plus Trust, founded by William Jay Friedman, took over in 2022. PETA’s complaint details that Friedman is not only the founder and sole owner of G.A.P.’s auditor, EarthClaims LLC, but has longstanding ties with Whole Foods, having previously been an attorney for Whole Foods while in private practice.
What You Can Do to Buck ‘Humane-Washing’ Schemes
Every animal is someone, and they all deserve better than the deceptive labels humane and welfare certifiers slap on the packaging of their broken bodies. None deserves the extreme cruelty from birth to slaughter that comes with being seen as a future piece of meat. Never buy the lie: Don’t be fooled by certification programs that promise that animals are afforded some higher level of “welfare” than on other factory farms, or are treated “humanely.” Misleading “humane” and “welfare” labels mean nothing to the suffering animals exploited for their flesh, eggs, and milk, as our video exposés show. Their treatment is sickening. Help prevent their suffering by signing PETA’s petition and by ditching all animal-derived products in favor of animal-friendly vegan upgrades.
