Perhaps the most famous maker of baby food in America is Gerber. The company started in Fremont, Michigan, in 1927. American babies have been eating Gerber baby food for nearly 100 years.
However, according to a February 2021 U.S. House of Representatives Staff Report, several baby foods that were tested, including Gerber baby foods, contained high levels of toxic heavy metals that scientific sources have linked with ADHD and autism spectrum disorder.
The report found that:
- Gerber’s ingredients were tested and contained up to 48 ppb of lead
- 75 percent of Gerber carrots that were tested contained over 5 ppb of cadmium
- Some of the Gerber carrots which were tested contained up to 87 ppb of cadmium
- Gerber rarely performs mercury testing on its baby foods
- Some of Gerber’s ingredients are “high-arsenic”
A September 2021 U.S. House Staff Report also found that rice cereal made by Gerber had up to 116 ppb of inorganic arsenic in it.
You may be wondering if you can sue Gerber over the heavy metals found in their baby food. This article will go into detail about your legal options.
In This Article
Can I Sue Gerber for Metal in Baby Food?
Are Lawsuits Being Filed Against Gerber?
What About Gerber Puffs?
Is Gerber Rice Cereal Safe?
How Much Do Toxic Baby Food Lawyers Cost?
Can I Sue Gerber for Metal in Baby Food?
You may qualify for financial compensation in a lawsuit against Gerber if your child was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder after eating Gerber baby food that was contaminated with toxic heavy metals.
Design and Manufacturing Defects
California law allows those injured by defective products to obtain financial compensation for any harm done to them from products that are considered defective by design.
California law also allows those injured by defective products to obtain a financial recovery for any injury or sickness caused by products that are defective because something went wrong during the manufacturing process.
It is clear that Gerber’s baby foods that are contaminated with toxic heavy metals are defective, whether it be due to a design defect or a manufacturing defect. Products that contain toxic ingredients which may cause diseases like autism spectrum disorder are unreasonably dangerous and thus defective.
Failure to Warn
California law also allows those injured by defective products to seek financial relief for harm done to them when companies know their products are defective yet fail to warn about it.
Negligence
California law allows for those injured by someone else’s negligence to hold the negligent party financially liable for any injury or sickness caused by the negligence.
Negligence is the failure to be reasonably careful to prevent harm, and a reasonably careful company would test its products and ingredients to make sure they don’t contain toxic substances that could injure their customers.
Are Lawsuits Being Filed Against Gerber?
Yes, lawsuits are being filed against Gerber, alleging that toxic heavy metals in Gerber’s baby foods caused autism spectrum disorder.
A lawsuit filed on May 23, 2022, in United States District Court, Northern District of California, alleges that a four-year-old California boy developed autism spectrum disorder because he ate Gerber’s baby food. The lawsuit claims that Gerber’s baby foods contain up to 641 ppb of lead, 180 ppb of inorganic arsenic, and 10 ppb of mercury.
The lawsuit notes that a Congressional subcommittee stated that “manufacturers knowingly sell these products to unsuspecting parents, in spite of internal company standards and test results, and without any warning labeling whatsoever.”
The lawsuit accuses Gerber of “malicious recklessness and callous disregard for human life” and seeks to recover financial damages based on multiple causes of action, including:
- Strict product liability – failure to warn
- Strict product liability – design defect
- Strict product liability – manufacturing defect
- Negligence – failure to warn
- Negligent product design
- Negligent manufacturing
- Negligent misrepresentation
What About Gerber Puffs?
Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) recommends that parents avoid feeding their babies rice puffs. Baby food puffs can contain 18 times as many heavy metals as other snacks for babies, according to HBBF.
According to HBBF, lab testing results found:
- 49.7 ppb of total arsenic in Gerber Puffs
- 41.4 ppb of total arsenic in Gerber Puffs Sweet Potato – Crawler
- 48.8 ppb of total arsenic in Gerber Puffs Blueberry – Crawler
- 43.7 ppb of total arsenic in Gerber Puffs Banana – Crawler
- 46.2 ppb of total arsenic in Gerber Puffs – Strawberry Apple, Crawler
Is Gerber Rice Cereal Safe?
HBBF recommends that parents serve babies infant rice cereal rarely and avoid serving crisped rice cereal to babies.
According to HBBF, lab testing results found between 57.2 ppb and 122 ppb of total arsenic in various Gerber rice cereal products.
How Much Do Toxic Baby Food Lawyers Cost?
Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers are contingency fee lawyers. This means that we are representing victims of toxic baby food without charging a fee until and unless we obtain financial compensation for our clients.
To be clear, we don’t charge a fee if we don’t obtain a recovery, and we don’t charge a fee until we obtain a recovery. This means you will never owe us a single penny out of your own pocket for us to represent you against Gerber.
Contact a Toxic Baby Food Lawsuit Lawyer Today
Nadrich Accident Injury Lawyers have been representing those who have been sickened or injured by defective products since 1990 and have recovered over $750,000,000 for our clients in that time. If your child has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and you believe it’s due to having fed your child Gerber products, you may be eligible to file a toxic baby food lawsuit against Gerber.
There are many complex issues that can arise in cases involving defective products, and we are experts at handling these issues and proving that our clients’ injuries were caused by product defects. Call us, text us from this page, or contact us online today for a free consultation to find out more about if you qualify to file a toxic baby food lawsuit against Gerber.
