Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Gerber Products Company and Nestlé USA, Inc., alleging the companies misled parents about heavy metals in Gerber baby food, his office announced Wednesday.
Texas filed the civil lawsuit in Collin County on October 9 under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The state seeks injunctive relief and more than $1 million in monetary relief, including civil penalties, attorney fees, and litigation costs, the petition stated.
The case challenges assurances that Gerber products are safe, thoroughly tested, and recommended by medical professionals. The allegations do not establish that the companies violated the law.
“Gerber promised parents its food was safe and rigorously tested. Its own tests showed toxic metals in the food,” Paxton said in the October 14 news release.
From 2017 through 2019, Gerber used 67 rice-flour batches containing more than 90 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic, the petition alleges. It also cites sweet potatoes with lead concentrations reaching 48 parts per billion and carrots with cadmium concentrations reaching 87 parts per billion.
The state compares those ingredient results with federal bottled-water standards. Those comparisons do not establish that finished baby foods exceeded applicable FDA action levels. The FDA established a separate action level of 100 parts per billion for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal in 2020, the agency explained.
Gerber foods meet FDA action levels, U.S. regulations and the company’s own standards, Gerber maintains on its website. The company also says it tests crops, water, ingredients and finished products. That published position predates the lawsuit announcement and does not constitute a response to the new filing.
The state also argues that Gerber’s QR-code disclosures of heavy-metal test results do not resolve allegedly misleading safety claims.
Paxton launched the industry investigation in August 2025, issuing civil investigative demands to Gerber and Plum Organics, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
Plum agreed in September 2026 to testing and contaminant standards and to continue publishing results for covered products sold in Texas, Paxton’s office announced. The agreement also bars shipment of lots that exceed the applicable standards.
Provided by Dallas Express
