Amazon Class Action Claims Retailer Fails To Disclose Presence of Toxic Heavy Metals in Happy Belly Spices

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Amazon Happy Belly Spices Toxic Heavy Metals Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Arturo Sauceda and Michael Sizemore filed a class action lawsuit against Amazon.com, Inc. 
• Why: Sauceda and Sizemore claim Amazon fails to disclose that its Happy Belly brand spices contain toxic heavy metals.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Washington federal court.

Spices sold by Amazon.com under its Happy Belly brand contain toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium and lead, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiffs Arturo Sauceda and Michael Sizemore claim Amazon neither lists the toxic heavy metals in the spices’ ingredients list nor warns consumers that they may potentially be present. 

Sauceda and Sizemore say they collectively have purchased Happy Belly Ground Thyme from Amazon on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2022. Had they known that the product contained toxic heavy metals, the duo says they would not have purchased or consumed it. 

The presence of toxic heavy metals in Amazon’s Happy Belly brand came to light following a Consumer Reports investigation, which found a number of of the products it tested contained “high enough levels of arsenic, lead and cadmium combined, on average, to pose a health concern,“ according to the class action lawsuit. 

Exposure to toxic heavy metals can cause a number of health concerns for both children and adults, according to the class action lawsuit, including decreases in IQ, increased risk of antisocial behavior, skeletal deformities and issues with the nervous system, among other things. 

Amazon Misrepresents Happy Belly Spices by Not Disclosing Toxic Metals

Sauceda and Sizemore say the presence of toxic heavy metals is especially dangerous for children since they begin to suffer adverse effects at lower levels of exposure than adults. 

“A dose of lead that would have little effect on an adult can have a significant effect on a child,” the class action lawsuit states. 

The plaintiffs argue Amazon materially misrepresented its Happy Belly brand spices by not disclosing that they contained toxic heavy metals.

Further, Sauceda and Sizemore claim Amazon’s alleged failure to disclose was an act of fraud and deceived consumers into believing the spices did not contain toxic heavy metals. “Amazon knew or should have known this information is material to reasonable consumers and impacts consumers’ purchasing decisions,” the class action lawsuit states. 

Sauceda and Sizemore claim Amazon is guilty of unjust enrichment and fraud, and in violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act and California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, among other things. 

Sauceda and Sizemore want to represent a nationwide class and California subclass of consumers who have purchased and consumed Amazon’s Happy Belly brand spices.

Plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting injunctive and declaratory relief along with compensatory, punitive, actual, and treble damages for themselves and all class members. 

A pair of similar class action lawsuits was filed last month against La Flor Products and B&G Foods over claims the companies sell herbs and spices that contain toxic heavy metals. 

Have you purchased any of Amazon’s Happy Belly spice products? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Beth E. Terrell of Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC, Kevin Laukaitis and Jonathan Shub of Shub Law Firm LLC; Gary E. Mason of Mason LLP, L. Timothy Fisher and Sean L. Litteral of Bursor & Fisher, P.A.; Lori G. Feldman of George Gesten McDonald PLLC; and Janine L. Pollack of Calcattera Pollack LLP. 

The Amazon Happy Belly Spices Toxic Heavy Metals Class Action Lawsuit is Sauceda, et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc., Case No. 2:22-cv-00338, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

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