Parents and caretakers tend to take no chances when it comes to their child’s health. Families ensure to baby proof, read literature, and inspect products intended for their precious infants. Developing babies are extremely fragile, and therefore, they require careful attention and monitoring. Sadly, infants can still encounter harm despite their parents’ protection. Negligent companies may expose infants to toxic heavy metals present in certain brands of baby food.
Our law firm is currently handling lawsuits on behalf of infants fed baby foods contaminated with heavy metals. Lawsuits against the manufacturers of popular baby foods claim that high levels of heavy metals in baby food may lead to complications, such as behavioral issues, low IQ, and learning disorders.
In September 2021, the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy released an alarming report concerning baby food. The report revealed that many popular baby food brands contain exceedingly high levels of inorganic arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium. Gerber, Beech-Nut, and Earth’s Best were among the brands in question.
An initial investigation by the subcommittee requested seven leading manufacturers to submit data on heavy metal testing in November 2019. Only four manufacturers submitted the documentation meanwhile, Walmart, Campbell, and Sprouts Organic Foods did not. For those that did produce the requested data, the subcommittee found high concentrations of metals in the baby food.
Unfortunately, the FDA has not yet specified a safe and legal limit on heavy metals in baby food, except for inorganic arsenic for infant rice cereal. Therefore, these companies determined their own standards for the contaminants in their products. The investigation found that these self-regulated “safe” levels were very high. Concerningly, the report discovered that some of the companies rarely even test their baby foods for heavy metals. For instance, Sprouts only conducts tests once a year, and Walmart did not test but relied on suppliers to self-certify. The most recent report reveals that baby food companies knowingly market and sell toxic baby food products.
The World Health Organization stated that arsenic, lead, mercury, and cadmium are among the top ten chemicals of concern for infants and children. In the worrisome report, the subcommittee concluded that some baby foods contain more than 90 times the maximum level of arsenic permitted in bottled water, 177 times the allowable levels of lead, 69 times the allowable levels of cadmium, and five times the allowable levels of mercury. Baby food companies have been asked to suspend the manufacturing and sale of infant rice cereal until regulations for arsenic are updated to protect infants.
In October 2021, the New York Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation into baby food toxicity urging the FDA to accelerate actions to remove toxic metals found in infant baby foods. Due to the prevalence of toxic metals in baby food, the FDA has also proposed an action plan for toxic metals in baby food entitled Closer to Zero.
Heavy metals in baby foods can affect neurological and developmental growth in infants and children. Ingestion of baby food contaminated with heavy metals may have long-term negative effects including:
Two plaintiffs, Hannah Dempsey and Kathleen Hood filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Gerber in September 2021. The lawsuit accuses Gerber of manufacturing baby foods with high levels of toxicity that increased children’s risk of experiencing long-term neurological and developmental injuries. Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that the companies endangered the health of children to increase profits and that parents would not have purchased the products if they were aware of their toxic ingredients. Other class action lawsuits against major baby food manufacturers claim companies used organized schemes to conceal contamination of their products with heavy metals.
If you or a loved one has been injured by Baby Food/Heavy Metal Poisoning, you may recover compensation for any or all of the following:
The Lake Law Firm was founded by Edward J. Lake, Esq., a personal injury lawyer for over 25 years. Our dedicated team of attorneys is committed to seeking justice on behalf of those who have suffered injury or death due to the negligence of others. Our experienced attorneys handle many different types of pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices, and other defective products. The lawyers in our firm have helped collect millions of dollars for their clients. The Lake Law Firm will advocate for you and your rights. Please contact us for a free confidential case evaluation at (888) 525-3529 or by submitting an inquiry on this page.
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