Ken Paxton has spent years undermining consumer protections, siding with corporate interests, and fighting to weaken the civil justice system. His time as Texas Attorney General has been marked by scandal, including a controversial divorce, indictments, and ethics investigations. He has positioned himself as an enemy of trial lawyers and the tort system at every turn, which makes his latest move all the more shocking.
On August 26, 2025, Paxton announced a formal investigation into Gerber (Nestlé) and Plum Organics. The allegation is that these baby food manufacturers sold products laced with arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury. These heavy metals are not minor contaminants. They cause brain damage in developing children.
Civil Investigative Demands in Play
Paxton’s office issued Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs), giving him the power to force corporations to hand over documents and testimony before filing suit. It is a tool rarely used by his office when Texas families are harmed by corporate misconduct, but one that could uncover the kind of evidence that transforms private litigation—internal safety testing, corporate knowledge, and marketing decisions that never see the light of day without government intervention.
Broader Context
California has already enacted strict testing and disclosure requirements, and federal regulators are under growing pressure. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has accused food companies of “poisoning” Americans, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has repeatedly warned of the dangers of heavy metals in children’s diets. The science is not new. What has been missing is enforcement.
Paxton, who has ignored enforcement responsibilities for years, now finds himself at the center of the issue.
Industry Pushback
Gerber’s immediate defense has been to point at FDA compliance and its own testing protocols. The problem is obvious. FDA standards are outdated and weak. Meeting the minimum requirements of a broken system is no defense when children’s neurological health is at stake.
The Larger Irony
This is where the irony hits. Guns are the number one killer of children in America, and Paxton has consistently blocked even modest reforms. He has made his career fighting against tort lawyers who try to hold dangerous industries accountable. Yet here he is, using state power to challenge corporations for selling contaminated food to infants.
For perhaps the first time, the mass tort world and Ken Paxton are on the same side. That fact alone suggests this is not business as usual. If Paxton, of all people, is willing to investigate, the case against these companies must be overwhelming.
What Comes Next
If the CIDs are pursued aggressively, this investigation could widen to other manufacturers, generate discovery that feeds directly into private litigation, and set financial settlement benchmarks. Judges in federal MDL proceedings may view the state’s findings as critical confirmation of corporate misconduct.
Paxton has never been an ally of children’s safety or consumer justice. His scandals and track record prove that. But if the tort system and the Attorney General of Texas are finally aligned, it may be because the evidence is too damning for even him to ignore.
