Is There a Class Action Lawsuit Against Gerber?

Multiple class-action lawsuits have been filed against Gerber alleging that Gerber’s baby foods contain toxic heavy metals.

One class-action lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on September 23, 2021, accuses Gerber of “false, deceptive, and misleading” advertising, alleging that Gerber “knows that heavy metals are harmful to babies and yet it sells the baby food products nonetheless.”

The lawsuit alleges that internal Gerber testing showed its products contained toxic heavy metals and that Gerber’s internal policies “permitted” the sale of baby foods containing toxic heavy metals.

Another class-action lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on October 18, 2021, makes similar allegations. The lawsuit alleges that Gerber “knowingly concealed all material information about toxic heavy metals, internal and external testing results, and its products’ hazards.” The lawsuit claims Gerber “sacrificed” the safety and health of children “to increase corporate revenue.”

You may be eligible to join a class-action lawsuit against Gerber if your child developed a condition such as ADHD or ASD after consuming Gerber baby food.

However, it is not in everybody’s best interest to join a class-action lawsuit. Many parents of children who have developed ADHD or ASD after consuming Gerber baby food may qualify for far more financial compensation by filing an individual lawsuit against Gerber instead of joining a class-action lawsuit.

If your child developed ASD after consuming Gerber baby food, call us today for a free consultation. We can evaluate your circumstances and tell you if you would be better off filing an individual lawsuit or joining a class-action lawsuit against Gerber. We can file a lawsuit on your behalf against Gerber and will never charge you a fee unless and until we obtain financial compensation for you.

Some Gerber baby foods may contain toxic heavy metals.

A U.S. House of Representatives Staff Report from February 2021 found that numerous baby foods that were tested, including baby foods made by Gerber, contained high levels of heavy metals. According to the report, some baby foods tested contained:

• 177 times the lead level that the FDA allows
• 91 times the arsenic level that the FDA allows
• 69 times the cadmium level that the FDA allows
• Five times the mercury level that the FDA allows

The report found the following:

• Ingredients that Gerber used tested as much as 48 ppb of lead
• Three-quarters of Gerber’s carrots tested contained more than 5 ppb of cadmium, with some carrots containing as much as 87 ppb of cadmium
• Gerber only rarely tests its baby foods for mercury

Gerber’s rice cereal products may contain arsenic.

The February 2021 U.S. House of Representatives Staff Report found that “Gerber used high-arsenic ingredients.” The report found that 67 batches of rice flour tested contained more than 90 ppb of inorganic arsenic.

A September 2021 U.S. House of Representatives Staff Report found that Gerber’s rice cereal contained as much as 116 ppb of inorganic arsenic.

The report stated that “Gerber’s organic rice cereal is dangerous.”

The February 2021 report found that the ingredients used in making baby foods contained toxic heavy metals.

The report identified multiple shortcomings in the baby food industry, which may have allowed contaminated ingredients into baby food. The report found that industry self-regulation failed to protect consumers and that baby food manufacturers “set their own dangerously high internal standards” for heavy metal levels and “routinely ignored them” in order to sell baby foods with high levels of heavy metals.

The report also found that the FDA “failed to confront the risks of toxic heavy metals in baby food.”

The report also found that Gerber only tested baby food ingredients and failed to test their finished baby food products.

To date, Gerber has chosen not to recall any of its baby food products due to contamination with toxic heavy metals.