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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Gerber Products Company and Nestlé USA, its parent company, alleging that consumers were misled about the safety and testing of Gerber baby food products that contained potentially dangerous levels of heavy metals.

The lawsuit, filed under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), claims Gerber represented its products as safe, pure, rigorously tested and recommended by medical professionals, while internal testing allegedly identified elevated levels of arsenic, lead and cadmium in ingredients used in its baby food.

According to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, Gerber used 67 batches of rice flour between 2017 and 2019 that contained arsenic levels more than nine times the federal limit for arsenic in bottled water.

The petition also alleges that carrots used by Gerber contained cadmium levels of up to 17 times the bottled-water limit, while sweet potatoes contained lead levels approaching 10 times that limit.

The Attorney General further claims that Gerber rarely tested its products for mercury and, for much of the period covered by the lawsuit, tested selected ingredients rather than the finished products consumed by infants.

A Nestlé spokesperson told FoodBev: "We want to reassure parents that Gerber foods are safe and nutritious. We believe the allegations are without merit. We have engaged constructively and in good faith with the Texas Attorney General and have provided extensive information addressing the questions raised during the investigation."

The lawsuit follows a wider investigation into the US baby food sector launched by Paxton's office in 2025 over concerns surrounding heavy metals in products marketed to infants and young children.

The investigation covers arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, all of which can occur naturally in agricultural ingredients but can pose health risks at elevated concentrations.

The Attorney General's Office alleges that Gerber's own testing identified heavy metals in its ingredients, but that the company continued to market the products without issuing a recall or warning relating to heavy metal contamination.

The petition also references testing conducted by Alaska's state laboratory in 2021, which reportedly found two samples of Gerber rice cereal exceeding the federal arsenic limit.

According to the Attorney General's Office, Gerber has previously recalled products for issues including plastic contamination and choking hazards, but the lawsuit alleges that it has not issued a recall specifically over heavy metals.

The lawsuit also takes issue with Gerber's current approach to communicating heavy metal testing information to consumers.

Gerber now provides testing results through a QR code on its packaging. However, Paxton's office argues that providing access to test results does not address the alleged discrepancy between the information available to consumers and the safety claims made on product packaging.

The petition argues that consumers could be misled by safety claims on the front of packaging even where additional testing information is available through the QR code.

Paxton said: "Gerber promised parents its food was safe and rigorously tested. Its own tests showed toxic metals in the food. When a company makes promises about what parents feed their babies, I will hold it accountable to ensure those promises are kept.”

In a statement, Nestlé said: "Heavy metals are commonly found in the environment and can be absorbed by certain fruits, vegetables and grains in trace amounts as they grow.  While heavy metals cannot be completely eliminated from the food supply, Gerber has long been committed to reducing their presence through careful ingredient sourcing, supplier requirements, testing and quality controls."

The case comes shortly after Paxton's office reached an agreement with Plum Organics following its wider investigation into the baby food industry.

Under the September agreement, Plum committed to strengthened testing and limits for heavy metals, including following FDA guidance for lead and adopting applicable EU guidance for cadmium and inorganic arsenic where US action levels are absent. The company also agreed to an internal 10 parts per billion limit for mercury and to publish applicable testing results for covered products sold in Texas.

The agreement was described by the Attorney General's Office as the first of its kind for a US baby food manufacturer and as a potential model for other companies operating in the sector.

Paxton's office said its wider investigation remains ongoing and has called on Gerber and other baby food manufacturers to introduce stricter testing standards and greater transparency around heavy metal levels.

 Nestlé emphasises that all Gerber baby foods meet FDA requirements and applicable state and federal regulations, stating: "Every Gerber product undergoes rigorous testing of more than 500 toxins and contaminants, quality checks and safety standards that meet – and often exceed – US regulatory benchmarks.  Gerber strongly supports the FDA’s Closer to Zero Action Plan and continued science-based efforts to further reduce children's exposure to environmental contaminants."