LesserEvil Lawsuit Says Lil’ Puffs Snacks Contain Undisclosed Lead

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges LesserEvil’s Lil’ Puffs snacks for children contain undisclosed lead at levels that exceed California regulations for the allowable daily dose limit.

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The 24-page LesserEvil lawsuit stresses that the Lil’ Puffs product packaging includes no warning or disclosure that the kids’ snacks contain lead, leading consumers to believe the food was “properly manufactured, free from defects, safe for consumption, and not adulterated or misbranded.”

In California, the maximum allowable dose level for lead, consumption of which can cause developmental and nervous system damage in children, is 0.5 micrograms per day, the complaint states. Independent lab testing has revealed that samples of Lil’ Puffs contained nearly 346.8 parts per billion of lead, with one serving containing 2.427 micrograms of the heavy metal, far in excess of the maximum daily limit in California, the lawsuit relays.

“There is no need for Defendant’s Products to contain lead,” the filing contends. “Other snack food makers are able to make snack products for children that are not contaminated with lead.”

LesserEvil touts the Lil’ Puffs as “air-puffed healthy snacks for kids,” and the company’s marketing claims the product is “simply made with a blend of seven wholesome vegetables so you and your toddlers can (super) power through the day,” the case says. Product packaging also states that the Lil’ Puffs are “Clean Label Certified,” indicating to consumers that the product has passed third-party testing and is safe and high quality, the complaint adds.

“Based on the labels and the fact that the Products are sold and marketed as kids snacks fit for consumption by toddlers and young children, consumers are misled into believing that these Products do not contain lead. They are unaware that the Products may be contaminated with lead. That a product intended for consumption as kids snacks contains lead, or may contain lead, is material to reasonable consumers.”

The lawsuit alleges LesserEvil is aware of the lead contamination risk for Lil’ Puffs, as the company in November 2021 received a Proposition 65 violation notice about the presence of lead in the products. The LesserEvil lawsuit says the company has received four additional Prop 65 notice letters that stated the Lil’ Puffs were contaminated with lead.

More recently, the suit continues, a June 2024 Consumer Reports study found that LesserEvil’s Voyager Veggie Blend puffs, made with cassava flour, “had more lead per serving than any of the 80 baby foods CR has tested since 2017.”

The LesserEvil Lil’ Puffs lawsuit looks to cover all individuals in the United States, except California, who bought one or more LesserEvil Lil’ Puffs snacks within the applicable statute of limitations period.

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