Texas sues Gerber, Nestle over toxic metals in baby food
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Washington: Texas has filed a lawsuit against baby food maker Gerber and its parent company Nestle USA, accusing them of misleading consumers about product safety despite alleged evidence of toxic heavy metals in ingredients used in infant food.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the legal action, alleging violations of the state's consumer protection law through claims that Gerber products were pure, safe and rigorously tested.
The lawsuit cites company testing from 2017 to 2019 that allegedly detected arsenic in 67 batches of rice flour at levels exceeding nine times the federal limit for bottled drinking water. It also alleges that cadmium in carrots and lead in sweet potatoes reached 17 times and nearly 10 times that benchmark, respectively. These comparisons use drinking-water standards, not limits specifically set for each food ingredient.
Texas further alleges that Gerber rarely tested for mercury and often examined selected ingredients instead of finished products. The state also cited 2021 laboratory findings involving two samples of Gerber rice cereal that allegedly exceeded the applicable federal arsenic limit.
Paxton said companies must be held accountable for safety assurances made to parents. The lawsuit also challenges Gerber's use of QR codes to provide testing information, arguing that packaging claims do not adequately disclose potential risks.
The allegations remain unproven in court, and no response from either company was included in the state's announcement.
With IANS inputs