Baby Food Lawsuit Autism & ADHD

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Watch “The Empower Hour” with Noah Cantabrana’s mother, Melissa, her attorney Pedram Esfandiary, and Moms Across America Founder Zen Honeycutt, discuss heavy metals in baby food and autism.

What Are Heavy Metals?

Heavy metals—including lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic—are toxic environmental pollutants that enter our food supply chain via contamination of soil, water, and air; improper waste disposal; chemical fertilizer; pesticides; and the use of other materials.

Heavy metals in foods pose a threat to public health, especially for vulnerable young children because they consume more food in relation to their body weight and absorb metals more readily than adults. According to Linda McCauley, who studies environmental health effects as Dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, “[n]o level of exposure to these metals has been shown to be safe in vulnerable infants.” McCauley adds that exposure from several sources of toxic heavy metals can cause cumulative effects that are particularly dangerous for babies.

Heavy Metals Side Effects

• Arsenic: Linked to bladder and lung cancer; damage to the central nervous system, brain development, and cognitive development; immunological effects; IQ deficit (specifically verbal, performance and memory); ASD; decrease in global motor, gross motor, and fine motor.
• Cadmium: Linked to decreases in IQ; development of ASD and ADHD.
• Lead: Linked to behavioral problems; ASD; decreased cognitive performance; delayed puberty; reduced postnatal growth; damage to central nervous system and brain development; adverse effect on academic achievement; with lower reading and math scores; significant association with ADHD.
• Mercury: Linked to adverse subsequent neuro-development; ASD; poorer estimated IQ; positively associated with autistic behaviors among preschool children.

US Government Finds “Dangerous Amounts” of Heavy Metals Mercury, Cadmium, Lead, and Arsenic in Baby Food

The U.S. House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy has issued multiple shocking reports on heavy metals in baby food. In February of 2021, the Subcommittee’s report ‘Baby Foods Are Tainted with Dangerous Levels of Arsenic, Lead, Cadmium, and Mercury’ detailed staggering levels of toxic metals in baby foods.

According to the February 2021 report, Nurture (Happy Family Organics and HappyBABY), Beech-Nut, Hain Celestial Group (Earth’s Best Organic), Plum Organics, Walmart (Parent’s Choice), Sprout Foods, and Gerber knowingly sell baby foods containing as much as 180 parts per billion (ppb) inorganic arsenic, 6441 ppb lead, 10 ppb mercury, and manufacture their products using ingredients containing as much as 913.4 ppb arsenic, 886.9 ppb lead, and 344.55 ppb cadmium, far eclipsing domestic and international regulatory standards.

To put this in perspective, here are the maximum allowable limits that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury are:

The FDA allows a maximum level of 5 parts per billion (ppb) lead in bottled water.

The government report found 177 times more than the acceptable level of lead in baby food products.

The FDA allows a maximum level of 10 ppb arsenic in bottled water.

The government report found 91 times more than the acceptable level of arsenic in baby food products.

The FDA allows a maximum level of 5 ppb cadmium in bottled water.

The government report found 69 times more than the acceptable level of cadmium in baby food products.

The EPA allows a maximum of 2 ppb mercury in drinking water.

The government report found 5 times more than the acceptable level of mercury in baby food products.

Baby Foods High in Heavy Metals

Multiple government reports and testing from consumer advocacy organizations found that the following products and ingredients from Beech-Nut, Earth’s Best Organic, Gerber, Nurture (Happy BABY), Parent’s Choice, Plum Organics, and Sprout Foods contain heavy metals.

Beech-Nut Baby Foods with Heavy Metals

• Classics Mixed Vegetables Stage 2
• Classics Sweet Carrots
• Classics Sweet Potatoes Stage 2
• Oatmeal Whole Grain Baby Cereal
• Organics Just Carrots
• Rice Single Grain Baby Cereal

Beech-Nut Baby Food Ingredients with Heavy Metals

• Alpha Amylase (Enzyme)
• Amylase (Enzyme)
• Apricot
• Ascorbic Acid
• BAN 800 (Enzyme)
• Blueberry
• Carrots
• Cinnamon
• Coarse Oat Flour
• Cumin
• Dehydrated Potato
• Mango
• Oat Flour
• Oregano
• Organic Cinnamon
• Organic Coriander
• Organic Cumin
• Organic Garlic
• Organic Lemon
• Organic Oat Flour
• Organic Pears
• Organic Prune
• Organic Rice
• Organic Rice Flour
• Organic Turmeric
• Prune
• Prune Puree
• Quinoa Flour
• Rice
• Rice Flour
• Sebamyl 100 (Enzyme)
• Sunflower Lecithin
• Sweet Potato
• Turmeric
• Vitamin Mix

Gerber Baby Foods with Heavy Metals

• Arrowroot Biscuits
• Barley Single Grain Cereal
• Carrot Sitter 2nd Food
• Carrot Supported Sitter 1st Goods
• Diced Carrots Veggie Pickups
• Fruit & Veggie Melts Truly Tropical Blend Free
• Multigrain Cereal
• Oatmeal Single Grain Cereal
• Rice Single Grain Cereal
• Sweet Potato Sitter 2nd Foods
• Sweet Potato Supported Sitter 1st Foods Tub
• Whole Wheat Whole Grain Cereal

Gerber Baby Food Ingredients with Heavy Metals

• Conventional Carrots
• Conventional Sweet Potatoes
• Flour Rice Long Grain
• Grape Juice White
• Organic Sweet Potatoes

Hain Celestial / Earth’s Best Organic Baby Foods with Heavy Metals

• Sensitivity DHR/ARA Infant Formula with Iron
• Sesame Street Peanut Butter Baked Corn Puffs
• Spinach and Potato Baby Food 6 months
• Whole Grain Rice Cereal

Hain Celestial / Earth’s Best Organic Baby Food Ingredients with Heavy Metals

• Medium Grain Whole Rice
• Organic Barley Flour
• Organic Barley Malt Extract
• Organic Blueberry Puree
• Organic Brown Flax Milled
• Organic Brown Rice Flour
• Organic Butternut Squash Puree
• Organic Cinnamon Powder
• Organic Date Paste
• Organic Green Lentil Flour
• Organic Kamut Flour
• Organic Quick Oats
• Organic Soft White Wheat Flour
• Organic Spelt Flour
• Organic Yellow Split Pea Powder
• Vitamin Pre-Mix
• Whole Raisins

Nurture / Happy Family Organics Baby Foods with Heavy Metals

• Apple & Broccoli Puffs
• Banana & Pumpkin Puffs
• Blueberry Beet Rice Cakes
• Kale & Spinach Puffs
• Multi-Grain Cereal
• Organic Baby Cereal, Clearly Crafted Whole Grains
• Organic Oats & Quinoa Baby Cereal Whole Grains with Iron
• Organic Rice Cakes Puffed Rice Snack
• Organic Simple Combos Apples, Spinach & Kale
• Pea Spinach Teether Biscuit
• Purple Carrot & Blueberry Puffs
• Strawberry & Beet Puffs
• Superfood Puffs - Sweet Potato & Carrot Organic Snack
• Superfoods Puffs - Apple & Broccoli Organic Snack
• Sweet Potato & Carrot Puffs

Plum Organics Baby Foods with Heavy Metals

• Grow Well Muscle
• Grow Well Tummy
• Little Teethers Blueberry
• Mighty Morning Bar Blueberry Lemon
• Mighty Snack Bars Strawberry
• Mighty Sticks Apple Carrot
• Super Puffs Apple with Spinach
• Super Puffs Blueberry with Purple Sweet Potato
• Super Puffs Mango with Sweet Potato
• Super Puffs Strawberry with Beet
• Teensy Snacks Berry

Sprout Organic Food Baby Foods with Heavy Metals

The U.S. House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy issued a second government report on baby foods in September of 2021. In the report, the Subcommittee noted that Sprout Foods’ practices “appear to be the most reckless among baby foods sellers on the market…The handful of documents that Sprout provided displayed a lax approach to testing for toxic heavy metals in its baby foods.”

Walmart / Parent’s Choice Baby Foods with Heavy Metals

The second government report on baby foods found that Walmart (Parent’s Choice) “does not appear to conduct any testing of its baby food products for toxic heavy metals. Instead, it sets maximum toxic heavy metal levels and asks the manufacturer of Walmart’s private label to self-certify that products meet those levels.”

Other testing has found the following Walmart baby food products contain heavy metals:

• Carrot Stage 2, 6 months (Parent's Choice)
• Little Hearts Strawberry Yogurt Cereal Snacks Stage 3 (Parent's Choice)
• Organic Strawberry Rice Rusks (Parent's Choice)

Baby Food Recall Announcements

Despite being called out in multiple baby food heavy metals reports, Gerber, Plum’s Organic, and other manufacturers have failed to recall products tainted with dangerous amounts of arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury. Below we profile some of the baby food recall announcements. We will update this list as the FDA issues new baby food recall alerts.

Beech Nut Recall

On June 8, 2021, Beech Nut issued a voluntary recall for its infant rice cereal because levels of arsenic in baby food products surpassed the FDA’s maximum allowable limit of 100 part per billion. In addition, Beech Nut announced that it will no longer sell infant rice cereal.

The implicated product in the 2021 Beech Nut recall is the Single Grain Rice Cereal item (UPC 52200034705) which carries the expiration date 01MAY2022 and product codes 103470XXXX and 093470XXXX. The product codes and expiration dates can be found at the bottom of Beech Nut Single Grain Rice Cereal product containers.

According to Happy Babies Bright Futures, this was the first ever recall of infant rice cereal due to high levels of arsenic.

Beech Nut’s baby food recall announcement came just a day after the Attorney General for New Mexico filed a lawsuit against Beech Nut and other companies. Like a previous complaint filed in April by Washington D.C.’s Attorney General Karl Racine, the lawsuit accuses the defendants of marketing and selling baby foods contaminated with high levels of arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. The lawsuits seek restitution and other legal remedies for failing to warn consumers about the dangerous levels of heavy metals in baby foods.

Walmart Recall

On October 8, 2021, Maple Island, Inc., which manufactures Parent’s Choice Rice Baby Cereal for Walmart, issued a recall on three lots. The Parent’s Choice Rice Baby Cereal 8 oz lots subject to the recall were sold after April 5, 2021. The products listed in the October 2021 Walmart recall include:

• Lot 21083 | UPC Code #00681131082907 | Best if Used by Date: JUN 24, 2022
• Lot 21084 | UPC Code #00681131082907 | Best if Used by Date: JUN 25, 2022
• Lot 21242 | UPC Code #00681131082907 | Best if Used by Date: NOV 30, 2022

Gerber Recall

As of May 2023, Gerber has failed to issue a recall over toxic metals in the company’s baby food products. Gerber’s unwillingness to issue a recall is particularly concerning because the government baby food report issued in September of 2021 said Gerber “should recall two infant rice cereal product codes and consider discontinuing sales of its rice cereal.”

The FDA posted a Gerber recall alert on May 14, 2023 due to the potential presence of a bacteria capable of causing harm. This announcement was not related to heavy metals, however.

According to the FDA announcement, certain batches of Gerber Good Start SootheProTM Powdered Infant Formula manufactured in the U.S. were recalled out of an abundance of caution due to the potential presence of Cronobacter sakazakii.

Cronobacter sakazakii can be harmful, particularly to premature infants, infants under 2 months of age, or infants with weakened immune systems, as they may experience fever, poor feeding, excessive crying or low energy as well as other serious symptoms.

Below are the affected Lots and “Use By” dates for the recalled products:

Gerber Good Start Infant Formula SootheProTM 12.4 oz:

• 300357651Z – USE BY 04JUL2024
• 300457651Z – USE BY 05JUL2024
• 300557651Z – USE BY 06JUL2024
• 300557652Z – USE BY 06JUL2024
• 300757651Z – USE BY 08JUL2024
• 300857651Z – USE BY 09JUL2024
• 301057651Z – USE BY 11JUL2024
• 301057652Z – USE BY 11JUL2024
• 301157651Z – USE BY 12JUL2024

Can Baby Food Cause Autism and ADHD?

Yes, according to numerous studies linking heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury to autism and ADHD. Babies and infants are particularly sensitive to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead in baby food because their brains are still developing. Also, due to their smaller size, more of the heavy metals are absorbed into their bodies compared to adults.