Scotts Miracle-Gro, based in Ohio, plead guilty on March 14, 2012 in U.S. District Court to breaching federal pesticide laws. It admitted it used an unapproved insecticide on bird seed it sold nationwide for two years. The government claims that Scotts produced a line of wild bird food under the names of “Morning Song” and “Country Pride” beginning in 2005 that contained insecticides which were not approved for use on bird food. The insecticides are toxic to birds and other wildlife. Court records show that in 2008, 73 million packages of bird seed coated with the insecticides were distributed by Scotts. The insecticides were intended to prevent insects from destroying the seed. Even though they were alerted to the toxicity dangers, they continued to produce and market the seeds. Scotts is proposing to pay a $4 millioln fine and give $500,000 to help support wildlife conservation and study. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
