Girl Scout 25-cookie “study” by crack science organization Moms Across America alleging ‘dangerous’ level of pesticide residues sparks class action tort case

Jonathan Stempel | Reuters | March 12, 2025

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The Girl Scouts have been sued by consumers over the alleged presence of “heavy metals” and pesticides in its popular Thin Mints and other cookies. A class action lawsuit was filed on March 10 in federal court in the New York City borough of Brooklyn against the 113-year-old nonprofit and the cookies’ licensed producers, ABC Bakers and Ferrero USA’s Little Brownie Bakers.

It cited a December 2024 study commissioned by GMO Science and Moms Across America that tested samples of 25 cookies from three U.S. states.

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The study said Girl Scout cookies contained at least four of five heavy metals – aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury – that can harm people’s health or the environment, often at levels exceeding regulators’ recommended limits.

It also said all samples contained glyphosate,, a pesticide used in some weed killers, with Thin Mints containing the highest levels. “While the entire sales practice system for Girl Scout Cookies is built on a foundation of ethics and teaching young girls sustainable business practices, defendants failed to uphold this standard themselves,” the lawsuit said.

Girl Scouts, short for Girl Scouts of the United States of America, addressed the study in a February 6 blog post. It said heavy metals occur naturally in soil, with trace amounts not a safety issue, while glyphosate is found “nearly everywhere” in the food chain…