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Girl Scout cookies contain lead, arsenic, cadmium, aluminum and mercury at levels that often exceed regulators’ recommended limits, as well as concerning amounts of a toxic herbicide, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
The suit bases its allegations on a December 2024 study commissioned by the GMO Science and Moms Across America nonprofits that tested 25 cookies gathered from across several states, and found all contained at least four out of five of the heavy metals.
Lead was found in all but one cookie, and all samples contained glyphosate, a highly toxic and controversial weed killer that is banned in many countries because it’s so dangerous.
Girl Scouts took aim at the study in a blog post. “The health and safety of Girl Scouts and cookie customers is our top priority,” it stated. “Rest assured: Girl Scout Cookies are safe to consume.”
It added: “Our trusted baking partners continue to ensure the integrity of our recipes and the safety of all Girl Scout Cookie products in accordance with federal regulations and Global Food Safety initiative standards.”
However, the lawsuit states: “While the entire sales practice system for Girl Scout Cookies is built on a foundation of ethics and teaching young girls sustainable business practices, defendants failed to uphold this standard themselves.”
The lawsuit seeks $5m in damages and asks a New York state court to order Girl Scouts of America to affix a warning to the cookies.
The heavy metals are especially dangerous for young children, and can cause brain damage and developmental issues. Glyphosate exposure in children is linked to liver inflammation and hormone disruption, among other issues.
About 200m boxes of the cookies are sold annually.
Thin mints showed the highest levels of glyphosate, and the Peanut Butter Patties, S’mores, Caramel deLites and gluten-free Toffee-tastic had the highest levels of toxic metals. Though the report compared its findings to the federal limits on metals in water, the US Food and Drug Administration typically limits the amount of lead in food to two parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb. All but three cookies exceed 2 ppb.
The non-profit Girl Scouts said heavy metals occur naturally in soil, suggesting that its cookies contained “trace amounts”, which is common in food and not a safety issue. However, the levels found in most of the cookies are higher than what’s considered trace amounts.
It also stated that glyphosate is found “nearly everywhere” in the food chain. Glyphosate is often in produce and processed foods, and the levels found in the cookies – with the exception of the Thin Mints – are lower than the EPA’s recommended intake for an adult. But it is unclear what the impact on children might be.
Organic produce and processed foods broadly contain no or much lower levels of glyphosate and other pesticides.
The high levels of metal contamination are also not unique to Girl Scout cookies – cinnamon in Gerber baby food was found to contain lead and sued for violating California’s Proposition 65 limits in 2021.
Vineet Dubey, an attorney who sued Gerber but is not involved in the Girl Scout lawsuit, said the toxins likely stem from Gerber and Girl Scouts “buying inexpensive ingredients and from places that are known to have problems with polluted soil, air and water”.
