Beech-Nut Baby Food Heavy Metals Litigation Reinstated on Appeal

Beech-Nut Nutrition Co. consumers on Thursday won reinstatement of deception suits over alleged undisclosed heavy metals in baby foods, as a federal appeals court said the litigation shouldn’t have been dismissed to await regulatory action.

Deferring to the Food and Drug Administration would unnecessarily prolong this litigation by parents who allege they overpaid because Beech-Nut failed to reveal the presence of lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals in various products, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said in a non-precedential order.

The problem of heavy metals in baby food is pervasive, with all but one of 33 ...