Beech-Nut brand baby foods contained excessively high levels of toxic heavy metals. Consuming these products may have caused some children to develop neurologic disorders such as autism or ADHD. Parents who feed their children Beech-Nut and other toxic baby food products are now filing product liability lawsuits.
Our lawyers are handling toxic baby food autism lawsuits for families who have a child who has autism as a result of baby food products contaminated with harmful heavy metals. Our law firm handles these toxic baby food lawsuits in all 50 states.
About Beech-Nut
Beech-Nut baby food products are manufactured and sold by Beech-Nut Nutrition Company, a Delaware Corporation with its principal headquarters and operations in upstate New York. The Beech-Nut company has been around since the late 1800s and it has been manufacturing baby food products since 1931.
Beech-Nut primarily makes baby food products aimed at infants from 4 months old to 12 months old. The Beech-Nut product line includes a variety of cereals, vegetables, and fruits in little glass jars and/or pouches. Beech-Nut was once an independent company, but today Beech-Nut is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hero Group a large European corporation.
Where are Beech-Nut Products Sold?
Beech-Nut is one of the older, well established baby food companies and it has a very sizeable share of the baby food market today. Only Gerber has a large market share. Beech-Nut baby food products are sold by all types of retailers, including grocery stores, big box stores like Walmart, and online.
Discovery of Heavy Metals in Baby Foods
In February 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, Committee on Oversight and Reform released a report containing shocking details that revealed that many of the leading baby food products (including Beech-Nut) contained high levels of toxic heavy metals. These findings were based on the submission of internal test results and company documents by the manufacturers themselves.
The levels of these metals in baby food were significantly higher than those permitted in other products like bottled water. For instance, the FDA’s maximum safe level for lead in bottled water is 5 ppb. However, the Congressional Report revealed that Beech-Nut brand baby foods contained up to 886 ppb of lead, and Hain Celestial (Nature’s Best) brands had 641 ppb. Other major brands, such as Gerber, Campbell Plum, and Walmart, showed lead levels between 25-40 ppb, still 5-10 times above the safe limit.
Beech-Nut Products Contained Toxic Lead Levels
Beech-Nut brand baby food products are arguably the most toxic of all the baby food brands that were found to be contaminated with heavy metals. The reason for this is because the Beech-Nut was found to use the most ingredients with some of the highest levels of heavy metals of any baby food company.
For example, Beech-Nut was to us ingredients in their foods even AFTER they tested as high as 913 ppb for arsenic and they used “additives” that had over 309 ppb arsenic. The 913 ppb arsenic was the highest level for any baby food manufacturer.
Beech-Nut also had the highest lead contamination levels in its baby foods. Beech-Nut was found to have used ingredients in its products that contained lead levels as high as 886 lead. That was by far the highest of any product.
Heavy Metals Can Cause Autism
Autism spectrum disorder (“autism”) is a neurological condition that hinders an individual’s ability to engage in typical social interactions, learning, and communication. Autism manifests in varying levels of severity and presents a range of symptoms. It is a lifelong condition with no known cure.
The precise causes of autism remain unclear. However, it is widely accepted among experts that early-life exposure to heavy metals can contribute to autism. Both the CDC and NIH have acknowledged that lead exposure can result in neurodevelopmental issues in children, including autistic behaviors.
A 2016 consensus statement by a group of epidemiologists, autism specialists, and medical organizations identified lead and mercury as toxic chemicals that can contribute to ASD. Research from the Healthy Babies Bright Futures organization found that 95% of baby foods tested contained toxic heavy metals, with one in four containing arsenic, lead, and mercury. Other studies have demonstrated an association between early-life exposure to heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and arsenic and the development of ASD.
These studies, including prospective cohort studies, prenatal studies, case-control and cross-sectional studies, and meta-analyses, have consistently shown a positive link between exposure to heavy metals and the onset of autism in children. The replication of these findings across multiple studies worldwide, conducted by various researchers and measuring different endpoints, strongly supports a causal relationship between exposure to toxic metals in baby food and the development of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, in children.
There is substantial evidence suggesting that the consumption of toxic heavy metals, such as those found in baby foods, can cause autism. Numerous studies over the past decade have consistently found a positive association between exposure to toxic heavy metals during infancy and early childhood and the development of autism.
Toxic Baby Food Lawsuits
The discovery of toxic heavy metals in baby food has led to numerous product liability lawsuits against baby food manufacturers by parents claiming that these products caused their children to develop autism.
These baby food autism lawsuits partly rely on findings from the Congressional Report, which corroborates the longstanding assertions of baby food lawyers. The report confirmed that baby food manufacturers knew their products contained unsafe levels of heavy metals. Some companies even disregarded their internal testing procedures for detecting these metals.
At the heart of every heavy metal food autism lawsuit is the allegation that these companies ignored test results showing dangerously high levels of metals, violating their own internal standards. It is not an exaggeration to say that they prioritized profits over the safety of babies.
Toxic Baby Foods Class Action MDL
The toxic baby food lawsuits started getting filed in 2021, soon after the Congressional Report was issued. For the first 2 years, however, the litigation failed to gain much attention or momentum. The plaintiffs sought to have the cases in federal court consolidated into an MDL back in 2022, but that request was denied because there just weren’t that many cases.
Part of the reason for this was that there were other lawsuits claiming that using Tylenol during pregnancy caused autism. The Tylenol autism lawsuits in federal court were eventually dismissed after the MDL judge found that the plaintiffs’ scientific evidence was not admissible in court.
The end of the Tylenol autism litigation gave new life to the toxic baby lawsuits. The number of toxic baby food lawsuits started to rise and by early 2024 there were enough pending cases in federal courts that a new “class action” MDL was granted.
Settlement Value of Beech-Nut Baby Food Lawsuits
Estimating the potential settlement value of toxic baby food lawsuits is purely speculative at this early state of the litigation. The major obstacle for these cases is getting the scientific evidence on causation admitted.
In most lawsuits involving baby food claims, the settlement amount awarded to victims is typically proportional to the severity of their injuries. The injury in the Beech-Nut lawsuits (autism) is catastrophic, leading to lifelong pain, suffering, and a significant loss of earning potential.
As a result, damages in baby food lawsuits can quickly escalate into the millions of dollars, driving high settlement compensations. This substantial payout potential explains the increase in attorneys seeking clients for baby food cases. If successful, the settlement value for autism-related baby food lawsuits will be considerable, with average individual settlements in successful cognitive injury class actions ranging from $500,000 to $1.5 million.
Contact Us About a Beech-Nut Baby Food Lawsuit
Our national product liability lawyers are handling and accepting Beech-Nut toxic baby food lawsuits across the country. Get in touch with our team now for a complimentary consultation at 800-553-8082, or reach out to our law firm online.