Sprout Baby Food Co Says Levels of Toxic Heavy Metals Found in Baby Food Meet FDA Regulations, Asks Federal Judge to Dismiss Class Action

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Update: Sprout Beats Parents’ Baby Food Heavy Metal Suit In NJ:

• A class action lawsuit alleging Sprout Foods Inc mislabeled its baby food products as “organic” and “healthy” when they contained unsafe levels of toxic metals has been thrown out by a New Jersey federal judge.
• On Apr. 25, U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler said the alleged harm that parents claimed was “simply speculation” and that the plaintiffs don’t have standing to sue.
• The judge ruled that the lawsuit did not adequately plead that the levels of heavy metals in the baby food substantially increased the risk of future harm to the children. 
• He cited a U.S. Food and Drug Administration letter stating that, at the levels it had found in its testing, children were not at an immediate health risk from exposure to toxic elements in foods.
• The lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice.

Sprout Baby Food Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: Sprout Foods Inc asked a federal judge to toss a toxic baby food class action lawsuit. 
• Why: Sprout contends that the levels of toxic heavy metals discovered in its baby food are governed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 
• Where: The motion to dismiss was filed in New Jersey federal court. 

(08/24/2021)

Sprout Foods Inc is pushing back against a class action lawsuit alleging it mislabeled its baby food products as “organic” and “healthy” when they contained unsafe levels of toxic metals. 

Sprout Foods asked a federal judge in New Jersey this week to dismiss or stay the class action lawsuit lodged against them by two parents. The company argued that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for handling labeling requirements and determining acceptable levels of heavy metals. 

Sprout Toxic Baby Foods Class Action Lawsuit

The class action lawsuit against the company followed a February report by the House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy claiming Sprout baby food products contained toxic levels of metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.

Sprout is not the only baby food maker to face legal action in the face of the toxic heavy metal report. Parents and caregivers around the country have also filed class action lawsuits against Earth’s Best, Nurture, Gerber, Plum Organics, Beech Nut, Walmart, and other baby food producers based on the report. 

Sprout Foods argued that the court should dismiss the class action lawsuit because the issue with acceptable heavy metal levels falls within the regulatory authority and expertise of the FDA. 

“What levels of heavy metals in baby foods are safe and acceptable, and whether it is misleading for foods containing certain levels of heavy metals to make true labeling statements about their contents, such as ‘organic,’ are questions that fall squarely within FDA’s authority to regulate both the safety and labeling of food,” says Sprout in its motion to dismiss the toxic baby food class action lawsuit. .

Sprout Foods notes the FDA announced a plan in April to propose “action levels” for acceptable amounts of heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury in baby food. 

The company contends that the court should defer to the FDA on the issue of what is considered safe when it comes to heavy metals, or would risk being at odds with other courts or the FDA itself. 

Indeed, more than 50 class action lawsuits have been filed against the company and other baby food producers around the country since the release of the report, says Sprout Foods. 

Sprout Foods refused to cooperate with the subcommittee, according to the report, which used information from a report by Health Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) claiming certain Sprout Foods products contained heavy metals.

Sprout Foods claims the plaintiffs, Irida Kimca and Derrick Sampson, improperly relied on the HBBF’s findings as the premise of their class action lawsuit, didn’t claim to have personally done any testing on the products, and never allege the products they purchased contained heavy metals. 

“Plaintiffs thus tacitly concede that not all of Sprout’s products at all periods of time, including the Products they personally purchased, contained heavy metals,” says Sprout Foods. 

Do you believe the class action lawsuit against Sprout Foods should get tossed? Let us know in the comments! 

The parents are represented by Matthew R. Mendelsohn, Adam M. Slater and Julia S. Slater of Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman LLC, Jonathan Shub and Kevin Laukaitis of Shub Law Firm LLC, Gary E. Mason of Mason Lietz & Klinger LLP, Jeffrey S. Goldenberg of Goldenberg Schneider LPA, David C. Magagna Jr. and Charles E. Schaffer of Levin Sedran & Berman LLP, and Gary S. Graifman and Melissa R. Emert of Kantrowitz, Goldhamer & Graifman PC.

The Sprout Foods Class Action Lawsuit is Kimca, et al. v. Sprout Foods Inc., Case No. 2:21-cv-12977-SRC-JSA, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Recall Check: Hallmark Recalls Baby Teethers Due To Choking Hazard
• Can Lack of Oxygen at Birth Cause Brain Damage?
• Major Baby Food Makers Accused of Using Toxic Ingredients in Trio of Class Action Lawsuits
• Recall Check: Beech-Nut Recalls Arsenic-Laced Rice Cereal, Will Stop Making Baby Food