New Report Tracks Baby Food Heavy Metal Testing Results and Manufacturer Transparency

Findings come as more than 200 families are pursuing toxic baby food lawsuits over the development of autism, ADHD and other injuries linked to heavy metal contamination in recent years.

As hundreds of families move forward with baby food heavy metal lawsuits, alleging that widely used products caused children to develop autism, ADHD and other injuries linked to heavy metal contamination, a new report details how some manufacturers are now making it easier for parents to check the levels of toxic metals in their products, while others are not.

Consumer Reports conducted an investigation involving 39 baby food brands, examining how difficult they make it for consumers to access data on arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, following a California state law that went into effect in January 2024, which requires easy access to baby food heavy metal testing results.

The California labeling law followed revelations of chronically high levels of all four heavy metals throughout the baby food industry. In April 2021, a U.S. Congressional Report warned of alarming baby food heavy metal levels, 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 allowable level of cadmium and five times the allowed levels of mercury.

Since that report, more than 200 baby food autism and ADHD lawsuits have been filed in federal courts nationwide by families who say their children suffered developmental, behavioral and other long-term complications after being fed toxic heavy metals during their formative early growth.

California responded to the concerns with a new state law, AB 899, passed in late 2023, which requires all baby food products sold in the state of California to be tested monthly for arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, and to make those test results publicly available online. The law took effect in January 2024 and required the companies to start posting the results this year.

Because of the size of California’s economy, the fifth largest on Earth, consumer laws passed in that state often affect products sold throughout the U.S., as manufacturers seek to match standards to maintain sales to a market of more than 25 million people.

Investigators from Consumer Reports and Unleaded Kids followed up, looking at how major brands tackled the state’s new requirements and who made it easy, or difficult, to see their test results.

According to their findings, 16 baby food companies completed the regular testing and provided straight-forward access to the results, including major manufacturers like Gerber, Plum Organics, Earth’s Best and others. However, the researchers found that 21 other companies fared poorly on transparency, including Beech-Nut, Target’s Good & Gather Baby label, Walmart’s Parent’s Choice brand, Sprout Organics and others.

“We gave the highest ratings to brands that made test results for all their products easily accessible on their websites… We gave a lower rating to brands that required consumers to enter a lot code or UPC, which would require having a product in hand.”

-Consumer Reports, Best Baby Food Companies for Reporting Lead, Arsenic, and Other Toxic Elements

Consumer Reports included recommendations to parents on how to avoid high levels of heavy metal in their child’s diet, including:

• Increased variety
• Avoiding rice
• Include foods high in iron, calcium and vitamin C
• Peeling produce and roots to remove excess cadmium and lead
• Limit fruit juice consumption

Baby Food Heavy Metal Lawsuits

All federal baby food heavy metal lawsuits are consolidated in the Northern District of Florida under U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

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 as any jury payout awarded may influence how much the manufacturers need to pay in autism or ADHD settlements to resolve the litigation.

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