The Girl Scouts of the USA is the focus of a class action lawsuit over its cookies. The organization stands by the products, saying that the cookies are safe.
The lawsuit which was filed in the Eastern District of New York claims that the cookies contain heavy metals and pesticides.
Despite the claims, the suit does not say anyone was made sick or harmed by the cooking. Still, the suit, filed by Amy Mayo “on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated” is asking for at least $5 million for those who have purchased the popular cookies in the U.S.
Mayo wants a jury trial.
Read the lawsuit here or below:
Girl Scout cookie class action by National Content Desk on Scribd
The Girl Scouts bakeries Ferrero U.S.A. and Interbake Foods (ABC Bakers) are also part of the suit.
Mayo claims in the suit that the cookies are “ultra-processed” and that the bakeries say they use “top-quality ingredients” or the “finest possible ingredients.”
“However, despite these representations that Girl Scout Cookies are sold as being fit for consumption, are marketed to children, and are sold as part of a sophisticated operation that has the resources to ensure than the Girl Scout Cookies are safe, Defendants instead produce and distribute Products which are contaminated with dangerous heavy metals, including aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury (hereinafter, “Heavy Metals”) and pesticides, including glyphosate (collectively, the “Toxins”)," Mayo alleged in the lawsuit.
She said in the suit that “extensive testing” was conducted in 2004.
But Forbes called the study cited small, testing 25 samples of cookies sold in three states.
The study, conducted by GMO Science and Moms Across America last year, found 13 types of the 25 cookies had at least four heavy metals while all had glyphosate, a herbicide.
It was not peer-reviewed and was not published in a scientific journal, but did go viral on podcasts and across social media.
The Girl Scouts of the USA denied those claims last month saying that heavy metals occur naturally in soil and that glyphosate is widely used in agriculture and is typically found in the food chain. Bakers also confirmed the levels found in the cookies “do not pose a safety concern to our customers.”
“Our trusted bakers remain committed to compliance with all food safety standards and regulations set forth by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other relevant health authorities,” the Girl Scouts said before the suit was filed.
The organization said, “These metals are not added to our Girl Scout Cookies."
Girl Scouts started selling cookies in 1917 and is called the “largest-girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world,” selling about 200 million boxes annually from January through April.
This is not the only lawsuit filed claiming there are heavy metals in the foods we eat.
Hershey, and other chocolate makers, were sued in 2022 over “unsafe levels of lead and cadmium” in some chocolate. That lawsuit is still active.
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