Washington, Oct 15 — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued baby food manufacturer Gerber and its parent company Nestle USA, alleging that they misled parents about the safety of products containing potentially dangerous levels of arsenic, lead and other toxic heavy metals.
The lawsuit, announced on Wednesday (local time), accuses the companies of making false and misleading claims about the purity and safety of Gerber baby food despite internal testing that, according to the state, revealed elevated concentrations of toxic substances in certain ingredients.
The legal action was brought under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which prohibits businesses from making false or misleading representations to consumers.
According to the Attorney General's Office, Gerber marketed its products as safe, rigorously tested and recommended by paediatricians, while failing to adequately disclose the presence of heavy metals.
The state alleges that between 2017 and 2019, Gerber used 67 batches of rice flour containing arsenic at concentrations more than nine times the federal limit for bottled drinking water.
Testing also allegedly found cadmium concentrations in carrots reaching 17 times the bottled-water limit, while sweet potatoes contained lead concentrations nearly 10 times that benchmark.
These comparisons involve drinking-water standards rather than regulatory limits specifically established for each baby food ingredient.
The lawsuit further alleges that Gerber rarely tested its products for mercury and, during much of the period under examination, tested selected ingredients rather than finished foods consumed by infants.
"Gerber promised parents its food was safe and rigorously tested. Its own tests showed toxic metals in the food," Paxton said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
"When a company makes promises about what parents feed their babies, I will hold it accountable to ensure those promises are kept," he added.
The Attorney General's Office said arsenic, lead and mercury are neurotoxic substances that can pose serious health risks, particularly to infants and young children whose brains and nervous systems are still developing.
The state also cited testing conducted by an Alaska laboratory in 2021, which it said identified two samples of Gerber rice cereal exceeding the federal arsenic limit applicable to that product.
According to the lawsuit, another manufacturer, Beech-Nut, subsequently recalled its infant rice cereal and discontinued the product after separate testing raised concerns about arsenic levels.
Texas alleges that Gerber did not issue a comparable recall or warning and continued selling its products.
The Attorney General's Office said Gerber had previously recalled products over plastic contamination and choking hazards but had not recalled baby food because of heavy metal contamination.
The lawsuit also challenges the company's current disclosure practices.
Texas authorities said Gerber now makes testing information available through QR codes printed on product labels but argued that this does not adequately address allegedly misleading safety claims displayed on the packaging.
The state maintains that consumers should not have to search for additional technical information to determine whether products marketed for infants contain substances that could pose health risks.
The allegations have not been adjudicated, and the announcement does not establish that Gerber or Nestle violated consumer protection laws.
The Attorney General's statement did not include a response from either company. Their positions on the latest lawsuit could not be independently established from the material reviewed.
The case follows an earlier settlement between Texas and baby food manufacturer Plum, under which the company committed to testing products for heavy metals, observing strict limits and publishing testing information.