- We have previously blogged about the fallout from a Congressional report on the level of heavy metals in baby foods, including class-action lawsuits against Gerber Products Co. and Plum, PBC (see blog post) as well FDA’s response to the report (see blog post).
- Unsurprisingly, these lawsuits were just the beginning of a trend and in recent weeks a series of new class-actions have been filed, each alleging similar consumer deception claims relating to the presence of heavy metals in baby foods.
- A class action was filed against Gerber Products Co. and Hain Celestial Group (Hain) in the North District of Illinois for allegedly omitting and concealing the presence of dangerous levels of heavy metal in the baby food products they sell.
- Another class action was filed in the Northern District of Illinois against Hain for allegedly misleadingly marketing baby foods such as Earth’s Best Organic Banana Raspberry & Brown Rice Fruit & Grain Puree as healthy and free of dangerous substances.
- Two class-action lawsuits were filed in the North District of New York (see here and here) against Beech-Nut Nutrition Co. for allegedly misrepresenting Beech-Nut baby foods are “real food for babies” and failing to disclose the presence of dangerous levels of heavy metals.
- A class-action lawsuit was filed against Nurture, Inc. in the Southern District of New York for allegedly misleadingly marketing Happy Baby Superfood Puffs as healthy and nutritious for babies and failing to disclose the presence of heavy metals.
- Given the recent filings, we have not yet seen briefing or any judicial decisions on the merits of the claims. Keller and Heckman will continue to monitor and report on these class-action lawsuits against baby food manufacturers as well as any other updates regarding the response to the Congressional report.