Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into baby food manufacturers for allegedly tainting their products with heavy metals.

Paxton announced the investigation on August 26, stating that his office issued “civil investigative demands” to Gerber and Plum Organics – and will send more throughout the investigation.

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Some “major baby food manufacturers” potentially broke the law by “deceptively advertising and selling products that contain dangerous levels of heavy metals,” according to a release from Paxton’s office.

Officials specifically named arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury among the dangerous metals that cause “brain damage” to young children. 

Despite this, many baby food manufacturers have set “internal standards for toxic heavy metal content at unreasonably dangerous levels” – meanwhile, claiming their products bring certain “health benefits,” according to the release. 

Paxton said his office would “secure justice for any parent misled by baby food manufacturers engaging in deceptive practices.”

“No parent should ever have to worry that the food they’re giving their children is filled with dangerously high levels of heavy metals,” Paxton stated in the release. 

California AB 899 took effect earlier this year – requiring baby food manufacturers to publish the test results of heavy metals in their products, according to The Business Journal. As a result, Gerber and Plum Organics began publishing some of these numbers.

For example, The Dallas Express examined the test results in a random batch of Gerber “Apple Harvest Teether Wheels.” The product “passed” testing, but contained 63 parts per billion of arsenic, 19 parts per billion of cadmium, less than four parts per billion of lead, and less than two parts per billion of mercury. 

The Dallas Express also examined the test results of those heavy metals in Plum Organics snacks. Across all categories, tests ranged from less than one part per billion to 39 parts per billion of heavy metals.

Earlier this month, Paxton reached an agreement with Kellogg to remove petroleum-based artificial dyes from its cereals by the end of 2027, as The Dallas Express reported at the time. He launched an investigation after the company announced plans to remove artificial dyes, but continued using them in certain products.

“We will fight to end the broken system that has led to food products threatening the health of our children,” Paxton said in the release. “Together, we will Make America Healthy Again.”