Eric Gibbs
A founding partner at the firm, Eric has negotiated groundbreaking settlements that resulted in reforms to business practices, and have favorably shaped the laws impacting plaintiffs’ legal rights.
On March 2, 2021, Gibbs Law Group filed a class action lawsuit against baby food manufacturers Hain Celestial, Beech-Nut, Nurture, and Gerber for allegedly selling baby food containing dangerous heavy metals like lead and arsenic.
A congressional report released on February 4, 2021, found that seven baby food manufacturers in the United States have sold baby food containing dangerously high levels of heavy metals, like inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury, which can harm the development of a baby’s brain and result in other health conditions.
If you bought baby food from HappyBABY, Beech-Nut, Earth’s Best Organic, Gerber, Plum Organics, Parent’s Choice, or Sprout Organic Food brands, you may have a claim.
Congressional Report: Tainted Commercial Baby Foods Contain Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals
According to internal company documents and test results, the following companies have been selling commercial baby foods that are tainted with significant levels of toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury:
- Nurture, Inc. (Nurture), which sells Happy Family Organics, including baby food products under the brand name HappyBABY
- Beech-Nut Nutrition Company (Beech-Nut)
- Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (Hain), which sells baby food products under the brand name Earth’s Best Organic
- Gerber Products Company (Gerber)
- Campbell Soup Company (Campbell), which sells baby food products under the brand name Plum Organics
- Walmart Inc. (Walmart), which sells baby food products through its private brand Parent’s Choice
- Sprout Foods, Inc. (Sprout Organic Foods).
According to the congressional report, these baby foods have been sold to parents with no label or warning. Several of these companies including Nurture, Beech-Nut, Hain, and Gerber set their own dangerously high internal standards for toxic heavy metal levels and then ignored their own standards. In addition, the report states that many of the companies only tested individual ingredients as opposed to final products, which underrepresents the levels of toxic heavy metals.
The Washington Post reports that heavy metals have been found in many types of baby food produced by these seven companies, including “cereals, sweet potato puree, juices and sweet snack puffs made by some of the most trusted names in baby food.”
Dangers of Heavy Metals in Baby Food
The Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization have declared Inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury as dangerous to human health, especially to the brain development of babies and children.
The House Committee is calling on the FDA to determine if there is any safe exposure level for babies to inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury, and then require them to meet those standards, and properly inform consumers through food labels. Currently, there is no established safe levels of these substances for use in baby foods.
Our Consumer Protection Attorneys
Rosemary Rivas
Rosemary has devoted her legal career to obtaining justice for consumers in class action lawsuits involving claims of false advertising, defective products, and privacy violations.
Dylan Hughes
Dylan Hughes concentrates his practice on investigating and prosecuting fraud matters on behalf of whistleblowers, consumers and employees harmed by corporate misconduct.
Mark Troutman
Mark Troutman is dedicated to protecting consumers against corporate misdeeds. He has served in leadership roles in complex litigation cases across the country.