Beech-Nut Buyers Urge Second Circuit to Revive Heavy Metals Suit

A panel of Second Circuit judges Friday considered whether to give consumers a second chance to litigate claims that Beech-Nut Nutrition Co. failed to disclose that its baby food products contained toxic metals, while promoting its high testing standards.

Ashley Parrish, representing Beech-Nut, argued the consumers can’t establish standing over the company’s representations that it tested the ingredients in its products for heavy metals since there’s an understanding that there’s some “background levels” of heavy metals in all products.

“I need a benchmark, some baseline, to say that the product compared to other products was actually worse. They didn’t,” ...