Lawsuit Alleges Baby Food Sold By Gerber, Beech-Nut, Nurture and Other Manufacturers Caused Autism Among Three Children of One Family

An Arizona mother has filed a lawsuit against several major baby food manufacturer, saying that high levels of toxic metals recently found in their products caused her three children to each develop autism.

Valencia Gibson filed the complaint (PDF) on March 17, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, on behalf of herself and her three minor children, who are only identified by their initials; AG, HG, and XG.

According to the lawsuit, Gibson fed her children baby food products manufactured by Gerber Products Company; Nurture, Inc.; Beech-Nut Nutrition Company; Plum, PBC; Hain Celestial group, Inc., and Sprout Foods Inc, which were all identified in a recent Congressional report as manufacturers of baby foods found to contain high levels of toxic metal, including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, which may increase the risk of children developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

“Plaintiffs AG, HG, and XG are three small siblings who live with debilitating Autism Spectrum Disorder because they consumed poisonous Baby Foods manufactured and sold by these Defendants,” Gibson’s lawsuit states. “This case seeks to hold the Defendant Baby Food Manufacturers accountable for their reprehensible conduct and ensure they are punished for permanently affecting Plaintiffs’ ability to live a fulfilling life.”

Gibson’s claim joins a growing number of toxic baby food lawsuits filed in recent weeks, following a House Oversight Committee report released on February 4, which highlighted internal documents and testing data for baby food products manufactured by Gerber (d/b/a Nestlé Nutrition), Beech-Nut Nutrition, Plum and others.

Findings from the U.S. Congressional report indicated some baby foods contain more than 91 times the maximum level of arsenic allowed in bottled water; 177 times the allowable levels of lead, 69 times the limits on cadmium, and five times the levels of allowable mercury.

In addition to individual lawsuits alleging the baby food caused autism, a number of class action complaints have been filed throughout the federal court system seeking damages on behalf of all consumers who purchased the tainted products. The complaints all raise common allegations, indicating that the baby food was falsely advertised as safe for children, while containing harmful levels lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in lawsuits pending throughout the federal court system, a group of plaintiffs filed a motion to centralize the baby food lawsuits earlier this month, asking the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to centralize the cases before one judge in the Eastern District of New York, where the majority of cases are currently pending.

Such consolidation is common in complex product liability litigation, where a large number of product liability lawsuits have been filed over similar injuries caused by the same products. Centralizing the cases before one judge is intended to reduce duplicative discovery into common issues in the cases, avoid conflicting pretrial rulings from different courts and serve the convenience of common witnesses, parties and the judicial system.

The FDA and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have long maintained exposing infants and children to toxic heavy metals can cause a permanent decrease in IQ, an increased risk of future criminal and antisocial behavior, and untreatable and frequently permanent brain damage.

Heavy metal exposure to infants is a serious concern. Lead exposure at any level is extremely unsafe for children. Prior studies have linked heavy metal exposure to behavioral impairments, brain damage, damage to the nervous system, seizures, growth impairments, and even death. More oversight is needed to help protect infants from serious health side effect sand long-term health damage, the congressional report concluded.