Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Gerber Products Company (“Gerber”) and Nestlé USA, Inc. (“Nestle”) for allegedly deceiving parents and other consumers regarding “toxic heavy metals” in their baby foods.
Paxton, who is running as President Donald Trump’s top pick for the U.S. Senate in Texas, announced the lawsuit on Wednesday, contending that Gerber advertised its food as safe, well-tested and recommended by pediatricians, despite its own test results finding “dangerous levels of arsenic and lead.”
In a press release, the attorney general stated that the company “used 67 batches of rice flour with more than nine times the arsenic that the federal government allows in bottled water” between 2017 and 2019. Additionally, its carrots had up to 17 times the limit for cadmium and its sweet potatoes had nearly 10 times the limit for lead. It also seldom tested positive for mercury.
These metals — known as neurotoxins — are listed by federal health agencies as the top substances posing “significant potential threat to human health.” Arsenic is first, lead is second, mercury is third and cadmium is seventh, according to the lawsuit.
Despite Gerber’s findings, it issued no recall or warning about the offending products, according to Paxton’s office. According to the 68-page filing against Gerber, its “marketing has not changed,” and it even tells parents that each jar of food passes “over 100 quality checks.”
“Gerber promised parents its food was safe and rigorously tested. Its own tests showed toxic metals in the food. When a company makes promises about what parents feed their babies, I will hold it accountable to ensure those promises are kept,” Paxton asserted.
Texas’s Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s office notified the defendants of the unlawful conduct, which it said violated the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), at least seven days before filing suit, in compliance with Texas law.
The filing noted that beginning in 1867, the baby food industry was built on consumer trust that companies could replace breast milk, which infants relied on until nine to 12 months of age throughout history.
“From its origin, manufactured infant food has been sold on the proposition that a company can be trusted to feed a baby. Nestlé, which began the industry in 1967, acquired Gerber, which has led the American market since 1928,” the lawsuit read. “Gerber and Nestlé USA … violated that trust with Texas consumers.”
Paxton pointed out that though Gerber includes a pathway for parents to find nutrition information about their food, it’s concealed by a QR code and does not provide full transparency.
“Gerber now posts test results behind a QR code on its labels. But the heavy metals in the food did not change, and neither did the safety claims on the front of the package. A code on the back of the jar does not cure a false promise on the front,” Paxton’s office asserted.
