Girl Scout Cookie Lawsuit
A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Girl Scouts of America and its cookie producers, ABC Bakers and Ferrero USA's Little Brownie Bakers, over allegations that the cookies contain harmful levels of heavy metals and pesticides
[4]. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, March 10, 2025, in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, cites a December 2024 study commissioned by GMO Science and Moms Across America, which found that Girl Scout cookies contained heavy metals such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury, as well as the pesticide glyphosate
[4].

Summary of the Lawsuit:
The lawsuit claims that the cookies are contaminated with dangerous heavy metals and pesticides, which can pose health risks
[4].
The Girl Scouts of America maintains that their cookies are safe and adhere to all food safety standards set by the FDA and EPA.
The organization argues that trace amounts of heavy metals and glyphosate can be found naturally in many foods and do not pose a health risk.
Study Findings:
The study tested samples of 25 cookies from three U.S. states and found that all samples contained at least four of the five heavy metals and glyphosate
[4].
The lawsuit requests damages of at least $5 million for those who purchased Girl Scout Cookies in the U.S., citing violations of consumer protection laws
[4].
Girl Scouts' Response:
The Girl Scouts have denied the claims, stating that their cookies are safe and that the presence of trace amounts of heavy metals and pesticides is common in the food chain.
The organization emphasizes that their cookies meet all regulatory standards and that there have been no reports of illness or harm from consuming the cookies.

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The proposed class-action lawsuit cited a study that found Girl Scout cookies contained at least four of five heavy metals - aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury

"trace amounts of heavy metals and pesticides is common in the food chain."

Great. That explains why those cookies would stay fresh for months.

RFK...roll up your sleves.!!

How much did they find? As an engineer, I can tell you that 'loaded with' is not a number.

If you look closely enough, everything is everywhere in trace amounts. If you didn't find it in your sample, ask a class-action lawyer - you just need better instruments.

My oldest daughter is a Girl Scout.
Her troop leader brough this story up over the weekend as we were in front of a local grocery store at a cookie booth.

I don't recall the specifics, but the part that stuck out about what she said was: It would take something like an adult consuming 600 cookies in some short period to have any effect from the things being claimed.

Even without this story, sales have been down compared to prior years. Last year was slower than expected & this year has continued more of the same.
With a bit over a week to go, my daughter has only sold about 100 boxes, and her troop leader's daughter has barely broken 500.

Unwanted Thin Mints can be sent to me for testing!

Speaking of contaminants in our food, does it concern anyone that virtually all salt obtained by evaporating sea water (i.e., “sea salt”) contains microplastics, unlike the “regular” type that’s mined from ancient deposits? It seems to me that sea salt is advertised more and more regularly as being used in food products, evidently because more and more people believe it’s somehow better than the regular type.

And yes, “loaded with chemicals” reminds me of all the YouTube videos whose titles include “shocking,” “horrific,” “Nazi,” and the ever-popular, “They don’t want you to know ….”

First, aluminum is not a heavy metal.

Second, since when are AI generated articles acceptable sources?

Third, apparently 4 out of the 5 heavy metals prefer Girl Scout cookies.

Fourth, since when are there only 5 heavy metals? Oh that’s right, see #2.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Even without this story, sales have been down compared to prior years. Last year was slower than expected & this year has continued more of the same.
With a bit over a week to go, my daughter has only sold about 100 boxes, and her troop leader's daughter has barely broken 500.

Straying from the original part of the topic, slightly…

I think sales are down because of the price. I understand that it should be considered a tasty donation and that’s why you’re buying them, but really, it’s the cost. The cookies themselves are mass produced. Assume that 20% should go to the troop selling the cookies. So $1.20-$1.40 a box. That’s $4.80-5.60 per box to the manufacturer for creation and shipping. That’s severely overpriced, even with the inflation we have had.
I think that’s what is keeping a lot of people from buying them. That and the cost of everything else going up, makes small indulgences like this harder to justify. If they were a little less expensive, I think they would sell a lot more.

It’s like the bar/restaurant my wife used to work at. The owner (really nice but shrewd Korean woman) made this hamburger that was absolutely delicious. Seriously, it was one of the better burgers I have ever had. Nearly everyone who had one said it was the best burger they had eaten. She couldn’t understand why she would only sell 1 or 2 a night and everyone was getting shitty pizza from next door.

I asked her one day why the burger was $10. and didn’t include fries. (This was back in 2008). She said she needed to make a profit. So I broke down her cost of ingredients. I also showed her how much she wasted because she didn’t sell a lot, and quite a bit went to the trash, (she was profiting around $7-$8 a burger back then.) We discussed that her primary business was a bar, not a burger stand. That she already makes a killing off the alcohol sales, but she could increase profits if her burgers were less expensive.

The burgers were repriced to $4. Same burger, but less than half price permanently and it included some fries as the food cost in fries was around a dime.
She couldn’t make them fast enough. She stated selling burgers like she couldn’t believe. People stated stopping in on their way home from work just to get a burger. Coming in for a lunchtime burger. Happened to be while they waited for that burger, they would also have a drink and a chat with their friend at the bar. Many of the “to go” orders turned into “I’ll just eat it here and have a beer with it”. So while she was losing profit margin, the overall profits increased incredibly. She was now slinging burgers like mad, and it was a draw for the alcohol business, which also increased.

The Girl Scouts need to do the same. Less margin, sell more and increase profits. I’m sure the GSA has a CFO that has already done this calculation and found their current strategy to be the better route for the GSA, but that’s my two cents.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
"trace amounts of heavy metals and pesticides is common in the food chain."

Great. That explains why those cookies would stay fresh for months.

RFK...roll up your sleves.!!

Well, there is a standard for an acceptable amount of rat turds in black pepper, so ...

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

Well, there is a standard for an acceptable amount of rat turds in black pepper, so ...

I really did not need to know that.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
She couldn’t make them fast enough. She stated selling burgers like she couldn’t believe. People stated stopping in on their way home from work just to get a burger. Coming in for a lunchtime burger. Happened to be while they waited for that burger, they would also have a drink and a chat with their friend at the bar. Many of the “to go” orders turned into “I’ll just eat it here and have a beer with it”. So while she was losing profit margin, the overall profits increased incredibly. She was now slinging burgers like mad, and it was a draw for the alcohol business, which also increased.

A buddy of mine had the same experience at his bar. Started offering handmade pizzas that were really good and reasonably priced, using a little tabletop pizza oven next to the beer taps.

They exploded in popularity, and people started flocking in for pizza. Both pizza and alcohol sales went through the roof.

He eventually remodeled the bar, adding a full kitchen with dual pizza ovens and a sit-down dining area. He now has a very successful pizza restaurant with a bar inside, after starting out as a bar that decided to sell pizza.

There are trace levels of bullshit in everything we eat that is processed, and many that are not because of trace levels of said bullshit in the soil. Welcome to 21st century Earth.

Plus, "at least 5 million"? That's chump change per person who purchased the cookies. What a joke.

We pulled out of the Girl Scouts due to their outrageous increase in membership dues while their CEO makes a killing. Many of our poorer members couldn't afford to be in anymore. Plus, the troop that does all the work gets less than 20% of the price per box. Community my ass, it's just another money making scam now.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

Well, there is a standard for an acceptable amount of rat turds in black pepper, so ...

I really did not need to know that.

That’s the part of pepper that makes you sneeze

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

I don't recall the specifics, but the part that stuck out about what she said was: It would take something like an adult consuming 600 cookies in some short period to have any effect from the things being claimed.

600? Sounds achievable to me. In reality I stopped buying theirs years ago. I cut out sugar for the most part, but I think Aldi sells some that are great tasting and I would rather have.

Sales are down because the box is tiny now and the quality is just not there anymore.

Why would I buy a box of PB Patties for $6 that has like 10 cookies in it when I can go to Aldi and buy the same exact type cookie in a package of 20 for like $3

I thought there was no Girl Scouts anymore. They’re just scouts, right? If so, perhaps the pockets to sue are deeper.

No, df. The suits only went after the Boy Scouts because girls wanted to get in, it was more fun than Girl Scouts. They couldn't go after the Girl Scouts to make them more adventurous, right?

^^^^^not and keep their feminist pro abortion agenda….

quote:

found that Girl Scout cookies contained heavy metals such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury, as well as the pesticide glyphosate

I never knew aluminum was a heavy metal. Heck, they make airplanes out of it because it's light.

There is glyphosate found in many foods...oats for one, but they're not suing Quaker.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

Well, there is a standard for an acceptable amount of rat turds in black pepper, so ...

I really did not need to know that.

There is also a standard for maximum allowable cockroach parts in most foods.