What's At Issue in
the Toxic Baby Food Lawsuit?

In February 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy released a report indicating that many popular baby foods were tainted with toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury.

Although these heavy metals are dangerous for everyone, they pose a particular threat to infants, with their relatively small size and developing brains. These findings were shocking, to say the least. Some of the biggest suppliers of baby food in the country were specifically named in this report.

The subcommittee made several recommendations, including:

• Establishment by the Food and Drug Administration of maximum allowable amounts of heavy metals in baby food;
• Requiring mandatory testing of baby food;
• Labeling baby food products according to the results of these tests; and
• Voluntary phase-out of toxic ingredients.

What this report is missing, however, is any sort of way for parents whose children were poisoned to be compensated for the injury. For this, Americans must turn to the court system to hold companies accountable.

Who May Be Affected By Toxic Baby Food?

Anyone who has ingested prepared baby food could possibly be at risk; that is to say, a sizeable number of people are potentially affected by the levels of toxic heavy metals in baby food. However, statutes of limitations surrounding product liability may mean that most of the cases are being brought by parents for their minor children.

That being said, if you believe you were harmed by exposure to toxic baby food, no matter how long ago, you should contact a qualified attorney as soon as possible to discuss your individual case.

What Are Some of the Medical Issues That Have Been Claimed?

Some of the heavy metals that the U.S. House subcommittee's report found in baby food include lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic.

Exposure to toxic heavy metals during infancy can lead to many health risks, including:

• Neurological damagea
• Damage to the central nervous system
• Decreased or delayed cognitive development
• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Many of the current claims are regarding autism and ADHD.

What To Do If You Think You Have a Claim

If you believe you have a claim, you should begin the legal process as soon as possible. As mentioned above, the statute of limitations limits the amount of time you have to bring a lawsuit, so it's important to get started as soon as you realize that you or your child has been injured.

Your first step should be to contact an attorney. Your attorney can help guide you through the process and answer questions about your particular case.

Your next step should be to begin collecting any supporting evidence. Medical records can be vitally important in this sort of case. So can evidence that you purchased certain baby food brands. You may not still have store receipts, but think about other places where these receipts might exist. If you used a food delivery service or if you made a purchase online, there may still be records. The more evidence you can collect, the stronger your case will be.

What's the Current Status of the Lawsuit?

Over a hundred individual and class action lawsuits have been filed. Named defendants include baby food manufacturers Gerber, Parent's Choice (Walmart), Beech-Nut, Hain (Earth's Best), and others.

Right now, the lawsuits are scattered across the country. There's a possibility that these cases could be consolidated into a multi-district litigation (MDL), which would allow them to share pre-trial tasks like discovery of evidence, but this has not yet happened.

If you believe you have a case, it's important that you contact an attorney as soon as possible. Don't wait to see if the current cases are collected into a larger case. It's better to get your case underway, and if cases are consolidated into an MDL, you and your attorney can decide if it makes sense for you to include your case in it.