Woman Sues Over 'Dangerous Toxins' in Girl Scout Cookies

Most people love a good Thin Mint, but a recent lawsuit against the Girl Scouts puts a damper on that affection for at least one New York woman, who claims the presence of heavy metals and pesticides in some of the organization's famous cookies, reports WJLA. The suit filed Monday by Amy Mayo in Brooklyn federal court names the nonprofit, as well as two licensed cookie manufacturers, as defendants, per Reuters. The proposed class-action complaint cites a late 2024 study, commissioned by GMOScience and Moms Across America, that tested more than two dozen cookie samples from three states.

• Among the findings: All of the cookies tested were found to have at least four of five heavy metals, including lead, mercury, aluminum, cadmium, and arsenic. The cookies were also all found to have the pesticide glyphosate (typically found in 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 suit notes. Mayo, a Queens resident who purchased numerous flavors of the cookies, says she would never have bought them, or "would have paid substantially less," if she'd known of the "dangerous toxins" contained therein, per the suit.

• USA Today reports that the study hasn't been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal and featured a small sample size. The outlet also notes that the toxin levels were measured against EPA safety standards for drinking water, not against FDA standards for food products.
• The Girl Scouts put out a blog post last month defending its popular product. "Rest assured: Girl Scout Cookies are safe to consume," the organization insisted, noting that contaminants like heavy metals "can occur naturally in soil," and that "nearly all foods using plant-based ingredients, including organic foods, may contain trace amounts." The post adds that glyposhate "is widely used in agriculture in accordance with established EPA standards and is found nearly everywhere in the food chain."
• Mayo's suit seeks at least $5 million in damages for consumers in New York state who stocked up on the cookies, as compensation for the violation of New York consumer protection laws.

(More Girl Scouts stories.)