Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Gerber Products Company and Nestlé USA, alleging the companies deceived parents about dangerous levels of heavy metals in baby food. Gerber marketed its products as safe and rigorously tested, but the company's own test results from 2017 through 2019 revealed dangerous levels of toxic metals.
During that period, Gerber used 67 batches of rice flour containing more than nine times the federal limit for arsenic in bottled water. Its carrots contained up to 17 times the federal limit for cadmium, and sweet potatoes had nearly 10 times the federal lead limit. The company rarely tested for mercury and for most of the time period tested individual ingredients rather than the finished food that babies consumed.
In 2021, Alaska's state laboratory found two samples of Gerber rice cereal that exceeded the federal arsenic limit. Beech-Nut, a competitor, tested lower on average but recalled its infant rice cereal and stopped selling it. Gerber issued no recall or warning and continued selling its products.
"Gerber promised parents its food was safe and rigorously tested. Its own tests showed toxic metals in the food," Paxton said. "When a company makes promises about what parents feed their babies, I will hold it accountable to ensure those promises are kept."
Paxton brought the case under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, alleging false, misleading and deceptive practices. The lawsuit follows a prior settlement Paxton reached with Plum that legally affirmed that company's commitment to testing for dangerous heavy metals, ensuring strict limits, and publishing test results publicly.