Heavy metal baby formula

CHICAGO — A federal court in Illinois partially dismissed consumers’ class action challenging at least seven kinds of Mead Johnson baby formula for containing undisclosed heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium and lead. The lead plaintiff is a mother who bought only two kinds of these formulas, so she does not have standing to sue for injunctive relief over products she didn’t buy herself. The court rules that no law or regulation establishes a “duty to disclose” the presence of these metals in the formulas, either by a “special relationship” to the consumers or by publishing misleading “half-truths” about their contents.