Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton alleges Nestlé and Gerber marketed baby food as rigorously tested and safe despite internal results showing elevated arsenic, lead and cadmium levels.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Nestlé USA and its Gerber baby food subsidiary, alleging the companies misled parents by marketing products as safe and carefully tested while internal testing showed potentially harmful levels of heavy metals. In a statement released on 14 October, Paxton said the companies deceived consumers by promoting baby food as “safe, rigorously tested, and recommended by paediatricians” even as test results allegedly showed arsenic, lead and cadmium above levels that Texas says should have raised alarms.
The lawsuit centres on ingredients used between 2017 and 2019, including rice flour batches that the attorney general’s office says contained more than nine times the arsenic allowed in bottled water. Texas also alleges carrot batches contained cadmium at as much as 17 times the baseline level and that some sweet potato ingredients exceeded the bottled-water lead threshold by nearly tenfold. Paxton is seeking to hold the companies accountable under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
Nestlé rejected the claims. A company spokesperson told Just Food that the allegations are “without merit” and said heavy metals are naturally present in the environment and can be absorbed in small amounts as crops grow. The spokesperson added that Gerber has worked to reduce contamination through sourcing standards, supplier requirements, testing and quality controls, and said the company screens for more than 500 toxins and contaminants, with safety standards that meet or often exceed US benchmarks.
The case builds on a broader regulatory and legal push in the US over contaminants in foods for infants and young children. The Food and Drug Administration has been testing for arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury as part of its Closer to Zero initiative, which aims to reduce dietary exposure to these substances in foods aimed at babies and young children. Texas opened an investigation into major baby food manufacturers in August 2025, and last year it also examined Gerber and Plum Organics. Plum Organics later settled after agreeing to strengthen testing and improve transparency.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
