Girl Scouts Is Being Sued Over What's In Its Iconic Cookies

When Girl Scout cookie season arrives, it's not uncommon for folks to make an extra trip to the store to purchase these goodies sold outside by dedicated young entrepreneurs. However, not everyone is convinced that those treats are safe to consume. On Monday, one individual from New York, joined by other cookie connoisseurs, filed a class action lawsuit against the companies responsible for producing the iconic sweets. They claim that the products are contaminated by heavy metals and pesticides.

Certain popular flavors of Girl Scout cookies are discontinued occasionally to make way for new additions, including two flavors vanishing after this year. Currently, they have not yet been taken off the market for being potentially harmful. Yet that's just what the recent lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Brooklyn, claims is the case. The action targets ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers to the tune of $5 million, asserting the companies have run afoul of consumer protection laws by allowing a pesticide called glyphosate to taint the cookies, as well as heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, cadmium, aluminum, and lead.

The lawsuit against ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers stems from a recent GMOScience study that claims to have discovered unsafe amounts of contaminants in most flavors of Girl Scout cookies currently produced. It's worth noting that the December 2024 study is based on a sample of just 25 cookies from three states, and while GMOScience does source much of its information from peer-reviewed journals, the study itself doesn't appear to have been peer-reviewed. 

Thin Mints, one of the most beloved flavors of the seasonal treats, tested higher than any other flavor for elevated amounts of glyphosate. Peanut Butter Patties contained the highest amounts of lead from all cookies tested and also harbored apparently unsafe levels of other heavy metals. According to the study, even gluten-free Girl Scout cookies may be potentially harmful, as all samples tested contained at least some glyphosate and heavy metals.

The Girl Scouts organization has tried to get in front of the issue by releasing a blog post indicating its products are perfectly safe to consume. The post stated that both companies producing Girl Scout cookies follow FDA standards. It continued by declaring that soil inherently contains some levels of heavy metals and glyphosate, implying they are nearly impossible to avoid completely. With Girls Scout cookie season in full swing, only time will tell if the study and subsequent lawsuit will affect the organization's ability to raise money this year.