What Parents Need to Know

• Texas alleges Gerber’s own testing identified elevated arsenic, lead and cadmium in ingredients while the company continued marketing its baby food as safe and rigorously tested.
• The state says 67 batches of rice flour used from 2017 through 2019 contained arsenic at more than nine times the federal limit used for bottled water.
• Gerber disputes the allegations and says its products comply with federal safety standards, setting up a major consumer-protection fight over what “safe” means on baby-food packaging.

By Samuel López | USA Herald

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Gerber Products Company and Nestlé USA, accusing the companies of misleading parents about toxic heavy metals allegedly found in baby food ingredients.

The case goes beyond a simple food-safety dispute. Texas is attacking what it says was a gap between what parents saw on the front of the package and what Gerber allegedly knew from its own testing.

According to the Texas Attorney General’s announcement, Gerber represented its products as safe, carefully tested and recommended by pediatricians even though company testing allegedly identified elevated levels of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals. Texas Attorney General

The state says that between 2017 and 2019, Gerber used 67 batches of rice flour containing arsenic at more than nine times the level permitted in bottled water. Texas also alleges that carrots tested at up to 17 times the bottled-water benchmark for cadmium and that sweet potatoes contained lead at nearly 10 times the referenced limit. The complaint further alleges Gerber rarely tested for mercury and, during much of the period at issue, tested selected ingredients rather than the finished food ultimately eaten by children. Texas Attorney General

Those allegations have not yet been proven in court.

Gerber, meanwhile, has rejected the state’s characterization. A company spokesperson told Texas Scorecard that Gerber’s products comply with federal safety requirements. During the earlier Texas investigation, Gerber also said it conducts extensive testing, including screening for hundreds of potential contaminants and subjecting its products to numerous quality checks. Texas Scorecard

That defense points to what may become the central legal issue: whether compliance with federal standards is enough when a company separately makes broader representations that its products are “safe,” “pure” or “rigorously tested.”

Paxton is pursuing the case under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which prohibits false, misleading and deceptive business practices. Texas says the problem was not merely that naturally occurring metals may appear in food; the state alleges consumers were given assurances that did not match information available to the manufacturer.

The lawsuit reportedly was filed in Collin County under Cause No. 494-08253-2026, with Texas seeking injunctive relief, corrective notices, civil penalties and other remedies. The state has also demanded a jury trial. Anna

The timing matters because federal regulators have already been tightening expectations surrounding heavy metals in food consumed by children.

In January 2025, the FDA finalized lead action levels for processed foods intended for babies and children under two. The agency set levels of 10 parts per billion for many fruits, vegetables, mixtures, yogurts and meats, and 20 ppb for single-ingredient root vegetables and dry infant cereals. FDA stresses that young children are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure and says manufacturers should continually work to reduce contamination. U.S. Food and Drug Administration

The FDA also continues testing foods for arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury under its broader Closer to Zero initiative. Those contaminants can enter crops naturally through soil and water, meaning their mere presence does not automatically establish wrongdoing. The legal question is likely to turn on concentrations, testing practices, representations to consumers and what the companies knew at the time. U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Paxton previously opened an investigation into Gerber and Plum Organics in August 2025. Texas later reached an agreement with Plum involving tighter testing and public disclosure requirements. The Gerber litigation represents a much more aggressive next step. Texas Attorney General

For parents, one point should remain clear: the lawsuit contains serious allegations, but it is not itself a scientific finding that every Gerber product currently on store shelves contains unsafe levels of heavy metals. That distinction will be important as the evidence, testing records and corporate communications are examined in court.

About the Author

Samuel López is a reporter and news correspondent for USA Herald who has contributed to the publication since 2022. López has more than two decades of experience working in the legal sector, including analyzing state and federal litigation, complex civil matters, regulatory disputes and insurance-related issues. That legal background informs his reporting on consumer-protection lawsuits, corporate liability and the evidence behind claims made by government agencies and private companies.

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