Class Action Says HolleUSA Baby Foods Found to Contain Heavy Metals

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A proposed class action alleges a number of products in HolleUSA’s line of baby foods are contaminated with harmful heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead.

The 23-page lawsuit comes in the wake of a February 2022 press release from the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who announced Holle had been issued a letter demanding that the company stop advertising its baby foods as “lead free” and without any “detectable traces” of heavy metals. 

According to the lawsuit, Brooks Applied Labs, at the behest of the New York State Attorney General’s Office, tested 18 samples of Holle’s products in December 2021 to analyze the total recoverable arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead in each item. The suit states that all 18 product samples indicated that the foods had “varying high levels” of the heavy metals. 

“Not a single sample from Defendant did not contain heavy metals,” the case reads, noting that the finding of Brooks Applied Labs sparked Attorney General James to advise Holle to revise its advertising. 

The complaint contends that Holle’s “deceptive representations and omissions” with regard to the following products would mislead a reasonable consumer: 

• Holle Goat Milk Toddler Drink; 
• Holle A2 Cow Milk Toddler Drink; 
• Holle Cow Milk Toddler Drink; 
• Holle Organic Zebra Beet Fruit, Puree & Veggie Juice; 
• Holle Organic Veggie Bunny, Veggie Puree; 
• Holle Organic Panda Peach, Fruit & Grain Puree; 
• Holle Organic Carrot Cat, Fruit & Veggie Puree; 
• Holle Organic Blue Bird, Fruit & Grain Puree; and 
• Holle Organic Banana Llama, Fruit Puree. 

Consumers would not have bought the above-listed Holle products had they known they were misrepresented as “lead free” and without “detectable traces” of heavy metals, the lawsuit argues. Moreover, the suit says Holle is well aware consumers would be unwilling to buy baby food products containing toxic heavy metals, especially given recent media coverage of the issue, yet nevertheless capitalized on “Plaintiff and Class Members’ desire to purchase baby food that was safe and healthy for the infants and children.” 

Ultimately, consumers have paid money for Holle baby foods that were not what the company represented, the suit alleges. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all consumers who bought any of the HolleUSA baby foods listed on this page anywhere in the United States during the applicable statute of limitations period. 

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