Nurture Says Heavy Metal Baby Food Claims Aren’t Realistic

• Multiple consumer-protection lawsuits against Nurture, LLC were consolidated in the Southern District of New York on September 1, 2021.  Plaintiffs in the Consolidated Class Action Complaint (CAC) allege that Nurture’s organic baby food products are contaminated with dangerous levels of heavy metals.  We have reported on the dismissal of similar claims in actions against Gerber, Plum, and Sprout that were among numerous putative class action lawsuits filed in the wake of a Congressional report on heavy metals in baby food.  Summaries of the report and subsequent events are available here and here.

• In a memorandum filed November 21, 2022 in support of a motion to dismiss the CAC, Nurture disputes whether the plaintiffs have stated a single plausible claim that the company’s baby food products are unsafe, are inaccurately labeled, exceed any applicable regulatory standard, or have otherwise caused any harm to any consumer.  While acknowledging that its finished products may contain trace levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium, or mercury, Nurture points to an authoritative statement by FDA that “low levels of these elements are naturally occurring, are unavoidably present in many baby food products, and, importantly, do not pose a health risk to babies and toddlers.”

• Personal injury claims against Nurture that are also based on allegations of tainted baby food have been consolidated in a separate proceeding with no new developments thus far.  Keller and Heckman will continue to monitor and report on any developments in the Nurture cases or other heavy metal baby food-related lawsuits.

Lauren Haas, Nicholas Prust, Frederick Stearns, and Emily Thomas also contributed to this article.