Baby food company hit with lawsuit over heavy metals found in its products
Beech-Nut Nutrition Company is being accused of misleading its customers 04/22/2021
Photo (c) JGI Jamie Grill - Getty ImagesBaby food manufacturer Beech-Nut Nutrition Company has been slapped with a lawsuit by Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine over claims that it misled customers about the health and safety of its products.
In the lawsuit, Racine alleges that Beech-Nut’s slogan “real food for babies” is anything but. “It reassures parents of the safety of its products through the use of words and phrases in its marketing and advertising such as ‘natural,’ ‘naturals,’ ‘100% natural,’ ‘organics,’ ‘just sweet potatoes’ (as an example), ‘non-GMO project verified,’ and ‘nothing artificial added.’”
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Baby food production companies argued against transferring multiple complaints against one or all of the defendants to the Eastern District of New York in a response to some plaintiff’s motion to transfer various allegations against the companies alleging that they mislabeled their products by not alerting consumers to the presence of heavy metals, which are found in the environment and in common fruits and vegetables.
The response, which was filed on Tuesday, responds to the first motion filed in the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation matter to address consolidating the many complaints filed this year against baby food companies following a House Subcommittee Report which claimed that the levels of heavy metals in baby foods are unsafe for children. There are currently about 57 related cases being heard in 14 different courts.
ANALYTICS: The Emerging Trend of Baby Food Safety Litigation
March 14, 2021 On February 4, the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy published a report claiming that baby food products contain “dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals” which it said could cause harm to babies and children, specifically regarding their cognitive development. Days after this announcement, lawsuits began to be filed against Gerber Products Company and Beech-Nut, and later against each company that the report said responded to the subcommittee’s request for testing data and every baby food company mentioned in the report.
In addition to these lawsuits, the report also led to requests that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) create standards for levels of certain heavy metals for baby foods, including one from New York State Attorney General Letitia James. Although this is not common for foods, there are FDA standards for heavy metal levels in bottled water and some other items.�
Baby food manufacturers must test for toxic chemicals after heavy metals founds in some: FDA abc7chicago.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from abc7chicago.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
All baby food manufacturers must consider toxic chemicals when they test their baby food for potential hazards, the US Food and Drug Administration said Friday. We appreciate your attention to your obligation to consider potential chemical hazards, including toxic elements, when conducting a hazard analysis, wrote Susan Mayne, director of the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, and Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA s acting commissioner of food and drugs, in a letter addressed to all baby and toddler food manufacturers and processors.
The FDA action came one month after a congressional investigation found several baby food manufacturers knowingly sold baby food that contained high levels of toxic heavy metals.