Girl Scouts of America has been sued over allegations that its cookies contain pesticides and heavy metals like aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.
Amy Mayo, the consumer who brought the lawsuit, says in the court filings that she wouldn’t have bought Girl Scout cookies — or would have purchased them only at lower prices — if she had been aware that they contained what the case alleges are “dangerous toxins.”
Do Girl Scout Cookies Contain Heavy Metals and Pesticides?
As evidence of toxins, the lawsuit cites a study commissioned by the advocacy groups Moms Across America and GMO Science, which tested Girl Scout cookies for the herbicide glyphosate and for five metals: aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.
According to the study, amounts of metals found in the cookies often exceeded limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for drinking water. But the government body responsible for overseeing contaminants in cookies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), doesn’t set limits for metals in foods.
The amounts of metals found varied by type of cookie.
- 3.85 parts per billion of arsenic
- 14.7 parts per billion of cadmium
- 6.18 parts per billion of lead
- 0.32 parts per billion of mercury
- 15.1 parts per billion of aluminum
The highest arsenic level was found in Toffee Tastic Gluten Free cookies, at 33.3 parts per billion. Peanut Butter Patties had the highest cadmium level, at 42.5 parts per billion, the most lead, at 23.3 parts per billion, and the highest aluminum level at 27.5 parts per billion. Caramel Delites had the highest mercury level, at 21.9 parts per billion.
Should You Be Worried About Eating Girl Scout Cookies?
While the presence of heavy metals in cookie samples sounds alarming, the amounts detected in this study are incredibly small and in line with what you might expect based on trace amounts naturally occurring in the soil where ingredients are grown, says Jaymie Meliker, PhD, a professor of public health at Stony Brook University in New York who wasn’t involved in the lawsuit or the study cited in the litigation.
“I would not be worried at all,” Dr. Meliker says. “We regularly eat Girl Scout cookies in our house as part of our diverse diet.”
“Environmental contaminants — which can include heavy metals — can occur naturally in soil,” Girl Scouts said in its blog post. “This means that nearly all foods using plant-based ingredients, including organic foods, may contain trace amounts. This does not mean that these foods are harmful to consume.”
You’d Have to Eat an ‘Obscene’ Amount of Girl Scout Cookies to Face Any Health Issues, Experts Say
It’s hard to say exactly how many cookies you would need to eat to be exposed to enough metals or pesticides to have health problems, but it’s definitely “an obscene amount,” says Toby Amidor, RD, a registered dietitian and the author of The Family Immunity Cookbook.
“No one should be eating one or several boxes of cookies to begin with,” says Amidor, who wasn’t involved in the lawsuit or the study cited in the litigation. “Cookies are a special treat, not a food that should be consumed in large amounts.”
Meliker agrees, and estimates that it might take thousands of cookies — or hundreds of boxes of cookies a day — to be exposed to enough metals or pesticides to cause any health issues.
“Clearly there would be acute effects from other things first if someone ate this many cookies,” Meliker says.