The typically tranquil spring ritual of green-clad Girl Scouts selling Samoas and Thin Mints has been rocked by drama this year.
Queens resident Amy Mayo filed a class action lawsuit in federal court this week claiming the three boxes of cookies she bought were contaminated with heavy metals that included aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury.
The lawsuit was based on research conducted by GMOScience and Moms Across America, which claims the testing was conducted on 13 different types of Girl Scout Cookies collected in the middle-to-latter portions of 2024 from California, Iowa, and Louisiana. The study — which has not been peer reviewed, but gained attention on TikTok — claimed 100% of the samples were positive for toxic metals.
According to the fact-checking outlet Snopes, the heavy metals allegedly detected within the cookies were “at levels well within” guidelines set by U.S. regulators. The outlet, citing public health experts who examined the study, went on to say that a child would need to consume thousands upon thousands of cookies per day to get close to “harmful levels.”
In a general post on environmental contaminants that’s unrelated to the lawsuit, the FDA said it prioritizes arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury “due to their potential to cause harm during times of active brain development—in the womb through early childhood.” These heavy metals can “occur naturally in the environment and are often at higher levels from past industrial uses and pollution,” the FDA wrote.
Adding to the intrigue, Mayo quietly withdrew from her lawsuit this week. However, the case still remains active with other plaintiffs. Mayo’s lawyers did not respond to a Quartz request for comment as to why she withdrew.
Meanwhile, the Girl Scouts of the USA have refuted the allegations.
As the lawsuit plays out, and in the spirit of the Spring cookie season, we are ranking our favorite Girl Scout cookies.
