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Amazon.com has been named in a proposed class action lawsuit filed in a Seattle federal court, accused of distributing rice products contaminated with arsenic and other heavy metals.

The complaint targets 18 rice items available on the e-commerce platform, including products under well-known labels such as Ben's Original and Amazon’s in-house Whole Foods Market 365 brand, reported Reuters.

The legal filing alleged that Amazon sold rice containing harmful substances without alerting customers to potential health risks, particularly in households with children. According to the lawsuit, "Amazon sold these rice products with alarmingly high levels of heavy metals to an intended consumer audience that includes children, with no warning whatsoever about the dangers of heavy metals."

Study Reveals Alarming Levels of Contamination

The case followed the release of a new study by Healthy Babies, Bright Futures, a nonprofit organisation that investigates toxic chemical exposure in infants and children. Their research, conducted nationwide, involved 145 rice samples and revealed troubling results. Every sample contained arsenic, and 28 per cent of them surpassed the US Food and Drug Administration’s safety threshold for arsenic levels in infant rice cereal.

Additionally, cadmium was detected in all but one of the samples. Lead and mercury, both highly toxic elements, were present in more than a third of the samples tested. The findings intensified concerns about food safety and the long-term health consequences of toxic exposure from widely available consumer products.

Amazon, headquartered in Seattle, declined to comment on the litigation, the report noted.

Health Concerns and Consumer Backlash

Exposure to heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury has been linked to various health problems. In children, these can include damage to the nervous and immune systems, kidney issues, and developmental disorders like autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The list of 18 rice products named in the suit includes two items from Ben’s Original and three from the Whole Foods 365 brand. Plaintiffs Ashley Wright and Merriman Blum specifically referenced their purchase of Iberia Basmati 100 per cent Aged Original rice. They stated that had they known the product was contaminated or untested for heavy metals, they would not have purchased it or would have paid less.

The lawsuit seeks damages of no less than $5 million, citing violations of Washington state’s consumer protection statutes. This case adds to a growing number of consumer lawsuits targeting food companies over the presence of heavy metals, with baby food and dark chocolate manufacturers also having been sued in recent years.

Filed under the case title Wright et al v Amazon.com Inc in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, the lawsuit is registered under No. 25-00977.