Texas sues Nestlé and Gerber over heavy metals in baby food

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Nestlé and its US subsidiary Gerber over claims that Gerber misled parents about heavy metals in baby food.

The lawsuit was filed in a Texas court and says company tests found high levels of arsenic, lead and cadmium in some ingredients used from 2017 to 2019.

It alleges that rice flour contained more than nine times the arsenic limit used for bottled water, carrots had up to 17 times the cadmium limit, and sweet potatoes nearly 10 times the lead limit.

The lawsuit also says Gerber rarely tested for mercury and often tested ingredients rather than finished foods.

In 2021, an Alaska state laboratory found two Gerber rice cereal samples with arsenic above the federal limit, but Gerber did not recall the products, according to the lawsuit.

Paxton says these metals can harm health, and the case argues that Gerber’s safety claims misled parents.

He is asking the court to require testing of finished products and make results visible to consumers; Nestlé had not provided a response when the reports were published.