Aldi Sued By Parents Alleging Baby Food Contained Toxic Metals

BATAVIA, IL — Three parents from Indiana, California and New York are suing Aldi for selling baby food that contained dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals, a lawsuit alleges.

Filed May 28 with the Northern District of Illinois, the product under fire is Little Journey, an Aldi brand marketed for babies and young children. Parents claim the Batavia-based company failed to label its products, leading shoppers to believe they were buying safe baby food.

The items named in the suit are rice rusk "stage 2" baby teething wafers meant for ages 6 months and older, "stage 3" little munchers and "stage 4" puffs, the latter two intended for ages 9 months and older.

"Unfortunately, the Products feature dangerous levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury," the document states, calling Aldi's failure to indicate the high levels of toxic heavy metals in the baby food "deceptive, misleading, unfair, and/or false."

Aldi representatives did not respond to Patch's request for comment at the time of publication.

The tested banana strawberry rice rusks contained 93.2 ppb arsenic, 10.2 ppb cadmium and 2.4 ppb mercury. The blueberry puffs had 62.3 ppb arsenic, 10.7 ppb lead, 60.4 ppb cadmium, and more than 1.8 ppb mercury. The white cheddar little munchers consisted of 11 ppb arsenic and inexact amounts below 10 ppb of lead, cadmium and mercury.

The lawsuit cites the United States Food and Drug Administration reports that point to the severe effects exposure to heavy metals could have on babies and young children.

"The FDA states that children's 'smaller body sizes and metabolism' leave them more susceptible to the negative impacts of the metals including on 'neurological development,'" the document reads. "There is no safe amount for a baby to ingest."

Lasting impacts include permanent decreases in IQ, diminished future economic productivity and increased risk of future criminal or antisocial behavior, according to the lawsuit.

The parents request the court to permanently enjoin Aldi from "engaging in the wrongful and unlawful conduct alleged" and award damages, the cost of the lawsuit and attorneys' fees, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest at the highest legal rate, and any further relief a judge deems appropriate.