Press Release 10/14/2026:
(AUSTIN, TX) – Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Gerber Products Company (“Gerber”) and Nestlé USA, Inc. (“Nestle”) for deceiving Texas parents about toxic heavy metals in Gerber baby food. Gerber told parents its food is safe, rigorously tested, and recommended by pediatricians. But Gerber’s own test results showed dangerous levels of arsenic and lead.
From 2017 through 2019, Gerber used 67 batches of rice flour with more than nine times the arsenic that the federal government allows in bottled water. Its carrots had up to 17 times the bottled-water limit for cadmium. Its sweet potatoes had nearly 10 times the limit for lead. Gerber rarely tested for mercury. For most of that time, it tested selected ingredients rather than the finished food that a baby actually eats.
These metals are neurotoxins. Federal health agencies rank arsenic, lead, and mercury first, second, and third among substances posing the most significant potential threat to human health. There is no established safe level of lead or inorganic arsenic for a baby. In 2021, Alaska’s state laboratory found two samples of Gerber rice cereal that exceeded the federal arsenic limit. Beech-Nut’s cereal tested lower on average, yet Beech-Nut recalled it and stopped selling infant rice cereal. Gerber issued no recall or warning and continued selling its products. Gerber has recalled products for plastic and choking hazards, but never for heavy metals.
“Gerber promised parents its food was safe and rigorously tested. Its own tests showed toxic metals in the food. When a company makes promises about what parents feed their babies, I will hold it accountable to ensure those promises are kept,” said Attorney General Paxton.
Gerber now posts test results behind a QR code on its labels. But the heavy metals in the food did not change, and neither did the safety claims on the front of the package. A code on the back of the jar does not cure a false promise on the front.
Attorney General Paxton brings claims under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“DTPA”). Gerber and Nestle engaged in false, misleading, and deceptive acts and practices by representing to Texas consumers that Gerber baby food is safe, pure, rigorously tested, and recommended by medical professionals when, in fact, the products and their ingredients contained dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals. This lawsuit follows Attorney General Paxton’s settlement with Plum that legally affirms the company’s commitment to testing for dangerous heavy metals, ensuring strict limits, and publishing publicly accessible testing results.
To read the lawsuit, click here.