Our litigators of the week are Phyllis Jones, Michael Imbroscio and David Sneed of Covington & Burling who represented The Hain Celestial Co., the maker of Earth’s Best baby food, in the first trial to consider whether trace amounts of heavy metals in baby foods can cause neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of the family of a Texas boy who claimed that eating the company’s baby food led to his Autism Spectrum Disorder, came in the wake of a February 2021 Congressional report finding internal testing from commercial baby food makers showed significant levels of toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury.