Beech-Nut class action over toxic heavy metals dismissed

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Beech-Nut toxic baby food class action overview: 

• Who: A federal judge threw out a class action lawsuit against Beech-Nut.
• Why: The judge ruled the U.S. Food and Drug Administratio, not the court, has jurisdiction over the matter.
• Where: The class action was filed in a New York federal court.

A New York federal judge tossed a class action lawsuit alleging Beech-Nut baby food contains toxic heavy metals, stating the U.S Food & Drug Administration (FDA) should rule on it first. 

U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd filed an order dismissing the case Jan. 19 in a New York federal court. 

Consumers hit Beech-Nut with a number of class action lawsuits after a February 2021 House Oversight Committee report found that seven baby food makers, including Beech-Nut Nutrition Co., allow high levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury in their products. 

A judge eventually consolidated the lawsuits, which alleged Beech-Nut used packaging that emphasized its safe ingredients, declaring its products “100% Natural.” However, the baby food products tested positive for pesticides and heavy metals, the plaintiffs alleged.

Judge rules Beech-Nut class action a matter for U.S. food safety regulators

In his opinion, Judge Hurd says the factors of the case weighed in favor of the FDA having jurisdiction over the case.

The plaintiffs’ claims depend on technical and policy considerations within the FDA’s field of expertise, he added.

“Contrary to plaintiffs’ assertion that this case is a ‘garden variety’ false advertising case, their claims repeatedly assert that Beech-Nut’s products are ‘unsafe’ to consume and that it is the products’ underlying toxicity, not the label statements themselves, that cause any alleged injuries,” Judge Hurd said.

Dismissing the Beech-Nut toxic baby food class action until the FDA offers guidance at the federal level would help to avoid a patchwork of decisions nationwide, the opinion said.

“While the issue of whether a company misled consumers may be within the conventional experience of the court, resolving plaintiffs’ claims first requires a determination on whether the levels of heavy metals in Beech-Nut’s products is harmful, which is within the FDA’s field of expertise,” Judge Hurd said.

The case was dismissed without prejudice. 

What do you think of the Beech-Nut class action lawsuit dismissal? Let us know in the comments.

The baby food consumers are represented by Erin Green Comite of Scott + Scott Attorneys at Law LLP; Steven L. Bloch, Ian Wise Sloss and Zachary Rynar of Silver Golub & Teitell LLP; and James E. Hacker, Randolph F. Treece and Julie A. Nociolo of E. Stewart Jones Hacker Murphy LLP.

The Beech-Nut toxic baby food class action lawsuit is In re: Beech-nut Nutrition Company Baby Food Litigation, Case No. 21-cv-00133, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

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