A new lawsuit alleges cookies sold by the Girl Scouts include “dangerous” heavy metals and pesticides, though the youth organization has denied the claims in defense of its popular product, which draws in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year.

metals, arguing some pesticides are found “nearly everywhere in the food chain.”

Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Key Facts

The proposed class action, filed Monday in the Eastern District of New York by a New York resident and other consumers, alleges Girl Scout Cookies are “contaminated with dangerous heavy metals” and pesticides.

The lawsuit—which does not claim anyone was sickened or harmed by the cookies—requests damages of at least $5 million for those who purchased Girl Scout Cookies in the U.S., citing violations of consumer protection laws.

The lawsuit cites a small December 2024 study by GMO Science and Moms Across America, which tested samples of 25 cookies sold in three states and found each contained the pesticide glyphosate, while some contained at least four heavy metals, including aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury.

Companies in the U.S. are required to meet Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency regulations on heavy metals in food, and the FDA will work with manufacturers to “resolve the issue” or prevent products from being sold if they fail to meet those limits.

Thin Mints samples contained 334 times more glyphosate than recommended while 19 cookies tested positive for cadmium levels that exceeded limits set by the EPA, the lawsuit alleges (the EPA recommends limiting consuming glyphosate to about 1.75 milligrams per kilogram of body weight).

Girl Scouts of the USA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Chief Critic

The Girl Scouts denied claims from the study in a February blog post, arguing heavy metals occur naturally in soil and that glyphosate is “widely used” in agriculture and is found “nearly everywhere in the food chain.” The nonprofit added its bakers had confirmed that levels reported in the study “do not pose a food safety concern to our customers,” though the lawsuit claimed the Girl Scouts’ blog post “fails to address the testing itself or the necessity to recall the products.”

What Is Glyphosate?

Glyphosate is used as an herbicide to control weeds and grasses, and it is often used while producing fruits, vegetables, nuts, corn and soybeans, according to the EPA. When used, glyphosate sticks to the soil before it is quickly broken down by bacteria, though it’s likely consumers will be exposed to “very small amounts” when eating foods, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A study published by the agency in 2022 found about 81% of the U.S. population was exposed to glyphosate between 2013 and 2014. Nausea, vomiting and respiratory issues are likely symptoms if a large amount of glyphosate is consumed, and some health groups are studying whether the pesticide causes cancer.

Key Background

The Girl Scouts touts its Girl Scout Cookie Program as the “largest-girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world,” with several cookie flavors sold each year from January through April. The program—which started in 1917—sells about 200 million boxes of cookies each year, according to NPR, accounting for roughly $800 million in revenue. The Girl Scouts have increased prices for some of their cookies in recent years to combat inflation, though the group has also faced problems with labor shortages and supply chain issues, including power outages at baking facilities in 2023.

Tangent

Hershey was sued in December 2022 after a New York resident claimed the company failed to disclose “unsafe levels of lead and cadmium” in some of its chocolates. The lawsuit followed Consumer Reports claiming some of Hershey’s dark chocolate products exceeded California’s standards for lead and cadmium dosages. The lawsuit is ongoing (Hershey did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes).

Further Reading

Why The Boy Scouts Of America Is Rebranding (Associated Press)

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