Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton initiated legal action against Gerber Products Co. and its parent company, Nestlé USA, on Wednesday. The lawsuit alleges that the companies violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act by selling baby food products that contained elevated levels of toxic heavy metals, including arsenic and lead. According to the Attorney General’s office, the companies marketed these products as safe and rigorously tested, while allegedly ignoring internal data that indicated the presence of these contaminants.

The lawsuit asserts that the companies failed to adequately protect consumers, specifically infants, who are considered more vulnerable to the health risks associated with heavy metal exposure. While the Attorney General’s office has released a public statement outlining these allegations, the defendants, Gerber and Nestlé, have not yet provided a detailed public response to the specific claims made in the filing. The legal action seeks to hold the companies accountable for what the state describes as deceptive marketing practices regarding the safety of their infant nutrition products. As the case proceeds, the court will need to evaluate the evidence regarding the testing protocols used by the companies and the actual levels of metals found in the products in question.