Judge Sets Deadline for Toxic Baby Food Lawsuits To Be Directly Filed in MDL

No new claims involving autism or ADHD from toxic baby food products sold in recent years can be directly filed in the MDL after November 21, 2025.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal toxic baby food lawsuits has set a deadline of November 21, 2025, after which no new claims can be directly filed in the multidistrict litigation (MDL) by families of children who developed autism or ADHD after consuming contaminated products sold in recent years.

There are currently at least 135 product liability lawsuits brought against Gerber, Nurture, Beech-Nut and other makers of popular baby food brands in the federal court system, each involving similar allegations that children developed life-long disabilities from high levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury in many popular brand name products.

The litigation first emerged in April 2021, following the release of a U.S. Congressional report that highlighted widespread baby food toxic metal contamination, indicating that many products contained 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.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in complaints filed by families throughout the federal court system, a federal toxic baby food lawsuit MDL was established last year, centralizing the claims before U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in the Northern District of California for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

To streamline the litigation, Judge Corley has allowed plaintiffs to directly file claims with the MDL court, instead of waiting to be transferred from U.S. District Courts nationwide. However, in a pretrial order (PDF) issued on April 28, Judge Corley announced that the court was setting a deadline for accepting direct filings to the MDL this fall.

“Pretrial Order No. 5, which permits plaintiffs to direct file any case that would be subject to transfer as a tag-along action to MDL No. 3101, shall expire on November 21, 2025,” the order states. “Following that date, no new cases may be direct filed in this MDL until further Court order.”

The order came on the heels of a joint statement (PDF) issued by the parties on April 22, in which plaintiffs agreed with the shut-off date, which defendants sought to have set much earlier, in late August along with the end of general causation.

“Plaintiffs believe that lawsuits filed before August 29, 2025—the close of general causation discovery—should constitute the universe of Plaintiffs that are subject to this initial general causation phase. Plaintiffs filed after that date will not have had a meaningful opportunity to participate in general causation and, thus, would have a due process right to mount their own general causation case,” plaintiffs stated. “Defendants take issue with that…suggesting that if they prevail on general causation they prevail in every case. But, that is not true.”

Judge Corley’s order does not appear to prevent the filing of any additional toxic baby food lawsuits, just direct filing in the MDL. Future plaintiffs may be required to pursue their claims individually in various different U.S. District Courts nationwide, while Judge Corley moves forward with pretrial rulings and bellwether trials in the MDL.

In addition to the federal litigation, there are also a number of baby food toxic metal lawsuits pending in California state court, where it is expected that the first trial may begin sometime this year.

While the outcome of that trial will not have any binding impact on other claims, it will be closely watched by lawyers involved in the litigation, as the average toxic baby food lawsuit payouts awarded by juries may influence how much the manufacturers need to pay to settle autism or ADHD claims brought by families nationwide.