America’s Favorite Girl Scout Cookies Are Facing a Lawsuit Due To Dangerous Levels of Heavy Metals

Each time someone eats America’s Girl Scout Cookies, they unthinkingly galvanize the spirit of a budding entrepreneur. Girl Scout Cookies have been catering to people’s sweet tooth for over a century while being an inspiring and staple initiative for fundraising. Approximately 200 million boxes worth $800 make their way into American homes. However, lately, people are being urged to stay away from these cookies. You could be unknowingly ingesting slivers of toxic metals, as a study commissioned by the non-profit organizations, GMOScience and Moms Across America, revealed.

After the study’s results came out, a lawsuit was filed in December 2024, in Brooklyn, against Girl Scout Cookies, the "largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world." The lawsuit claimed that these cookies are “hundred percent” contaminated with heavy metals and pesticides that are undeniably harmful to consumers.

The non-profits tested a total of 25 cookie varieties, including the much popular Peanut Butter Patties and Thin Mints. Researchers found that all of these cookie samples contained at least four out of five of the heavy and toxic metals, such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.

Lead was present in all but one cookie, and glyphosate in all of them. While 100% of the samples were found to show positive ratings in glyphosate and toxic metals, 76% were positive for levels of cadmium that exceed EPA limits in water. Peanut Butter Patties were the highest contaminated cookies, whereas Thin Mints proved to contain the highest levels of glyphosate. S’mores, Caramel deLites, and gluten-free Toffee-tastic also showed high levels of toxic metals. The cookies tested were sourced from three states, including California, Iowa, and Louisiana.

According to GMOScience, glyphosate is a commonly used drying agent, employed before harvesting of crops like wheat, oats, barley, legumes, sugarcane, and others. Sometimes, it is utilized as a weed killer for crops like corn, soy, canola, and beet sugar, which are typical ingredients in these cookies. For these purposes, it’s a brilliant potion. But when it seeps inside the human body, this substance tends to trigger a tailspin of health problems, including endocrine disruption, gut issues, sperm damage, reproductive damage, neurotoxicity, and autism.

From 13.57 parts per billion in Peanut Butter Patties to 111.07 in Thin Mints, the average amount found in these cookies is 33.43, 334 times higher than what Doctor Don Huber stated as harmful. In a 2015 study, the World Health Organization’s division IARC also called glyphosate a substance that is "probably carcinogenic to humans." Vineet Dubey, an attorney who sued Gerber for selling lead-contaminated cinnamon in baby food, told FOX32 Chicago that this contamination is due to the manufacturer “buying inexpensive ingredients from places that are known to have problems with polluted soil, air, and water.” 

However, the cookie manufacturer attributed the contamination to nature. They said the traces of these metals are naturally found in the soil and are an inevitable part of the food chain. In a blog post, they clarified that their cookies are “safe to consume” and the organization’s “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.” Hence, consumers are being urged to keep a distance from these cookies at least for the time being until the matter is fully resolved.