Cocoa Puffs cereal contains ‘dangerous’ levels of lead, class action says

Cocoa Puffs lead class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Mark Tobin filed a class action lawsuit against General Mills Sales Inc. 
• Why: Tobin claims General Mills fails to disclose that its Cocoa Puffs cereal contains dangerous levels of lead. 
• Where: The lead in cereal class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court. 

General Mills Sales fails to disclose its chocolate-flavored Cocoa Puffs cereal product contains “substantial” and “dangerous” levels of lead, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Mark Tobin’s class action claims independent testing and analysis of an average-size bowl of Cocoa Puffs cereal showed it contained lead levels exceeding the California Proposition 65 Maximum Allowable Daily Level (MALD). 

Even at the lower end of the average consumer’s serving size, “the Products contain .532 mcg of lead and exceed the MALD,” the Cocoa Puffs class action says. 

Tobin is seeking to represent a class of California citizens who purchased General Mills’ Cocoa Puffs cereal in the state and who do not claim any personal injury from them within the past four years. 

General Mills should have known of Cocoa Puffs lead content, class action claims

Tobin argues General Mills knew or should have known that its Cocoa Puffs cereal contained lead and had an “independent duty” to disclose its presence to consumers, due to it being “unfit for human consumption.” 

“Defendant fails to warn consumers—and materially omits from the labels of the Products—that they contain lead,” the Cocoa Puffs class action says. 

General Mills is further accused of “specifically” and “intentionally” targeting children in its marketing and advertising of Cocoa Puffs, despite there being no safe level of lead for them to consume. 

Tobin claims General Mills is violating California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law and Consumer Legal Remedies Act.

The plaintiff demands a jury trial and requests declaratory and injunctive relief and an award of compensatory, monetary and punitive damages for himself and all class members. 

A pair of similar class action lawsuits were filed against WanaBana and Procter & Gamble late last year over claims the companies failed to disclose unsafe levels of lead in their applesauce products and metamucil fiber supplements, respectively. 

Have you purchased Cocoa Puffs cereal? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Naomi B. Spector of Kamberlaw, LLP. 

The Cocoa Puffs lead class action lawsuit is Tobin, et al. v. General Mills Sales, Inc., Case No. 3:24-cv-04397, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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