A lawsuit alleging baby food manufacturers knew their products contained high levels of heavy metals will advance to trial after a California judge ruled the science behind the plaintiffs’ claims is sound. A lawsuit alleging baby food manufacturers knew their products contained high levels of heavy metals will advance to trial.
Judge Amy D. Hogue for the Superior Court of the State of California on May 24 ruled the plaintiffs’ experts used sound scientific evidence to argue that heavy metals found in certain baby foods can cause autism spectrum disorder (“autism”) and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed in September 2021 by the parents of Noah Cantabrana, now 8 years old, alleging Noah developed autism and ADHD after consuming significant amounts of baby foods from companies named in the suit.
Those companies are: Beech-Nut Nutrition Company; Gerber Products Company; Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (Earth’s Best Organic); Nurture, Inc. (Happy Family Organics and Happy Baby); Plum, PMC (Plum Organics); Sprout Foods, Inc. (Sprout Organic Food); and Walmart – Parent’s Choice.
The Cantabranas’ case is the first personal injury lawsuit related to heavy metals in baby foods in California, and the first case of its kind in the U.S. to proceed to trial.
Judge Hogue’s ruling followed a Sargon hearing held earlier this year. According to Baum Hedlund law firm, which is representing Noah’s family, “A Sargon hearing allows the legal teams for the plaintiffs and the defendants in a lawsuit to present their experts and educate the court on the science that underpins their arguments.”
“Sargon” refers to the California Supreme Court case Sargon Enterprises, Inc. v. University of Southern Cal. (2012) 55 Cal.4th 747. This type of hearing encourages courts to act as the gatekeeper for which scientific evidence is admissible in court.
Judge Hogue split the Sargon hearing into two parts. The plaintiffs presented their experts over four days from Jan. 31 to Feb. 4, 2022. The defendants presented their experts on March 14.
Judge Hogue ruled all the experts for the plaintiffs used sound logic and valid methodologies to argue that heavy metals can cause autism and ADHD in children.
The case will now move to the discovery phase, which allows the plaintiffs to seek internal documents to help prove their case. These and other documents, such as transcripts and expert reports, will be posted online as they become publicly available.
In response to the ruling in favor of proceeding with the case, Baum Hedlund attorney Pedram Esfandiary said:
“We are pleased but not surprised by Judge Hogue’s ruling. The science is clear. We believe that once a jury hears the evidence, they will agree that baby food companies knowingly sell products with staggering amounts of arsenic, lead, and mercury and that exposure to these toxic metals caused our client to develop lifelong brain damage and neurological disorders.”