Marin among counties in $2.17M lead exposure settlement

A baby food company accused of lead exposure violations has reached a $2.17 million settlement with prosecutors in Marin County and 11 other jurisdictions.

Prosecutors sued the Mead Johnson corporation in 2018, alleging it sold products for infants and toddlers that had elevated lead levels. The lawsuit also alleged that the company failed to place lead-exposure warnings on the products, violating Proposition 65 and the Unfair Competition Law.

The plaintiffs included the California Attorney General’s Office and the district attorney offices in Marin, Alameda, Monterey, Napa, Orange, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano and Sonoma counties. Another plaintiff was the Community Science Institute, a nonprofit organization involved in Proposition 65 enforcement.

The lawsuit stemmed from an investigation of dozens of brands of baby and toddler formula sold in California, the office of Attorney General Rob Bonta said in an announcement Tuesday.

“After being notified of the results of the People’s investigation, Mead Johnson agreed to work with the Department of Justice and its District Attorney colleagues to take the steps necessary to minimize the lead levels in its products,” the statement said. “Thereafter, Mead Johnson implemented numerous changes to bring its products’ lead levels below the threshold that would trigger the requirement for Proposition 65 warnings, including changing the sourcing of certain ingredients.”

Under the settlement, Mead Johnson agreed to pay $850,000 in connection with Proposition 65 and the Unfair Competition Law, $470,000 in reimbursement for attorneys’ fees and costs and $850,000 toward an environmental project to reduce lead levels in California drinking water.

Marin County and the other county plaintiffs will each get $35,416 for further consumer protection actions.

“We are pleased that Mead Johnson’s cooperation in reaching this settlement will result in the reduction of lead levels in infant and toddler formula as well as the funding of an environmental project that will benefit low-income households by reducing lead levels in their water supply,” said Andres Perez, a Marin County prosecutor who specializes in consumer protection cases.

The products covered in the settlement are sold under the brand names of Enfamil, Nutramigen and Enfagrow.

In a statement, Mead Johnson said: “For more than 100 years, Mead Johnson has provided high quality infant and toddler nutrition products trusted by healthcare professionals and consumers throughout the world. The lead levels in our infant formula products have always been extremely low and we disagreed with the state as to whether our products required warnings under Proposition 65. Lead is not an ingredient added to infant formula but rather an element commonly found in the environment, in drinking water, and in the food supply chain.”

The settlement was approved by Judge Frank Roesch of Alameda County Superior Court.