Baby Food Heavy Metals Claims Advance Against Manufacturers; Parent Companies Dismissed

SAN FRANCISCO — The judge overseeing the MDL docket for heavy metal-contaminated baby food actions has dismissed overseas parent companies Nestle’, Danone and Hero for lack of personal jurisdiction, ruling that the evidence does not show that they conducted any relevant activities in the United States or controlled their subsidiaries’ heavy metal testing.

However, in the April 2 order, Judge Jacqueline Corley of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California refused to dismiss the domestic subsidiary defendants Beech-Nut, Gerber and Nurture, rejecting their argument that plaintiffs did not allege a connection between the levels of heavy metals …