Attorney General Ken Paxton is touting a landmark agreement between the state of Texas and a baby food manufacturer that will ensure its products do not contain high levels of dangerous metals.
According to an announcement from Paxton’s office, Plum Organics has entered into a “first of its kind” agreement that “legally affirms the company’s commitment to testing for dangerous heavy metals, ensuring strict limits, and publishing publicly accessible testing results.”
Paxton’s office said that the agreement “sets a new standard” for other companies to follow.
“I will not allow dangerous amounts of contaminants and heavy metals in baby food. This is a commonsense issue, and I commend Plum for agreeing to strengthen its standards and provide parents with greater transparency about what is in these products,” said Paxton. “My office will continue to investigate the baby food industry to stop any company from misleading parents about the safety and quality of the products that they rely on to feed their children.”
The case stems from an investigation initiated by Paxton last year into major baby food manufacturers that “potentially violated the law” by deceptively marketing and selling products containing dangerous levels of heavy metals.
According to the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC), Plum Organics not only “fully cooperated” with Paxton’s investigation, but informed the attorney general’s office of its already existing testing protocols.
The company ensures “every lot of its baby food products is tested for lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury before being released for sale to consumers.” Since December 2024, it has also published the heavy metal test results for its products online.
Consumers can view the heavy metal test results here.
For products subject to the Food and Drug Administration’s Lead Guidance, results can be accessed through a QR code that appears on the product’s packaging.
Plum received the highest ranking by Consumer Reports in its “Best Baby Food Companies for Reporting Testing of Lead, Arsenic, and Other Toxic Elements” ranking in both 2025 and 2026.
By entering into the AVC, Plum Organics is ensuring that it will continue to publish heavy metal test results on its website, that its testing standards “align with leading regulations and guidance,” and that all standards followed and published by Plum are subject to revision if the FDA adopts additional and/or different “action levels.”
They will also adopt current European Union guidance for cadmium and inorganic arsenic in the absence of FDA thresholds and a standard of 10 ppb for mercury in its products. Any product that exceeds these standards will not be shipped.
Plum told Texas Scorecard that “Plum Organics baby food is, and always has been, safe and nutritious for babies and toddlers.”
“The voluntary agreement announced today does not represent a change to Plum’s existing practices or policies; it simply memorialized our pre-existing commitment to rigorous testing standards that align with leading regulations and guidance, including those set by the FDA and European Union (EU),” wrote Plum. “Additionally, Plum has publicly posted our heavy metal test results since 2024 and will continue to make those results publicly available to all consumers.”
“We encourage everyone to read the full agreement, which is publicly available.”
Paxton’s office reports that the investigation into the baby food industry remains ongoing.
