The Lunchables lawsuit everyone heard about in 2024 is over, and no consumer received a payout. Three class actions filed against The Kraft Heinz Company in April 2024 alleged that Lunchables kits contained undisclosed lead, cadmium, and phthalates. The two New York cases were voluntarily dismissed with prejudice in January 2025. The California case was terminated at the district court in September 2024 and is on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
What Triggered the Lawsuits
On April 9, 2024, Consumer Reports published results from testing 12 store-bought lunch and snack kits, including three Lunchables varieties: Turkey and Cheddar Cracker Stackers, Pizza with Pepperoni, and Extra Cheesy Pizza. CR found lead, cadmium, or both in all 12 kits.1Consumer Reports. Should You Pack Lunchables for Your Kids’ School Lunch? The Turkey and Cheddar Cracker Stackers tested at 74 percent of California’s maximum allowable dose level for lead, the Pizza with Pepperoni at 73 percent, and the Extra Cheesy Pizza at 69 percent.2NPR. Lunchables Consumer Reports School Lunch
Phthalates showed up in every kit tested except the Extra Cheesy Pizza. None of the kits exceeded any federal regulatory limit for lead or cadmium.3Food and Wine. Kraft Heinz Lunchables Contain Lead That gap, between what the testing found and what federal law actually prohibits, became the central weakness of the lawsuits that followed.
The Three Class Actions
Within two weeks of the CR report, three class actions landed in federal court. All three argued the same core theory: Kraft Heinz marketed Lunchables with reassuring language like “100% Freshness Guaranteed” and “Parents Trust” while failing to disclose the presence of heavy metals. Consumers, the complaints said, cannot test packaged food themselves and relied on the labels. They sought only economic losses, not personal injury damages.
LaSpisa v. Kraft Heinz
Laura LaSpisa, a mother from White Plains, New York, filed first on April 15, 2024, in the Southern District of New York (Case No. 7:24-cv-02822). She brought claims under New York General Business Law § 349 (deceptive business practices) and § 350 (false advertising). The complaint called the affected products “entirely worthless” and “unfit for human consumption” and alleged consumers would not have bought them, or would have paid less, with full disclosure.4Law.com. Kraft Heinz Lunchables Complaint
Palmeri v. Kraft Heinz
Vincent Palmeri filed on April 22, 2024, in the Eastern District of New York (Case No. 1:24-cv-02880), adding a negligence per se claim. His complaint sought certification of a national class and a New York subclass and leaned heavily on the “100% Freshness Guaranteed” language.5ClassAction.org. Lunchables Lawsuit Alleges Cracker Stackers, Pizza Snacks Contaminated With Lead It cited the EPA’s position that there is no safe level of lead exposure for children.6Milberg. Lead Lunchables Lawsuit LaSpisa was later added as a plaintiff in the Palmeri action, consolidating the New York litigation.7CourtListener. Palmeri v. The Kraft Heinz Company
Hortin v. Kraft Heinz
Also in April 2024, a plaintiff named Hortin filed in the Southern District of California (Case No. 3:24-cv-00909), alleging fraud over the failure to disclose harmful substances.8CourtListener. Hortin v. Kraft Heinz Foods Company, LLC It challenged the same marketing language as the New York cases.9Truth in Advertising. Lunchables Products
How the Cases Ended
The consolidated Palmeri action in the Eastern District of New York was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice on January 17, 2025. The notice, filed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i), stated the action ended “without costs to either party.”10ClassAction.org. Palmeri et al. v. The Kraft Heinz Company et al. – Voluntary Dismissal Dismissal with prejudice means those plaintiffs cannot refile the claims. No settlement was reached and no money was paid to class members.5ClassAction.org. Lunchables Lawsuit Alleges Cracker Stackers, Pizza Snacks Contaminated With Lead
The California case, Hortin v. Kraft Heinz, was terminated at the district court on September 6, 2024. The docket shows filings tied to an appeal to the Ninth Circuit as recently as March 2025, so the matter is not fully resolved.8CourtListener. Hortin v. Kraft Heinz Foods Company, LLC If you bought Lunchables during the relevant period, there is no open claims process and no settlement fund to file against.
Why the Cases Faced an Uphill Battle
None of the Lunchables products CR tested exceeded any federal legal limit for lead or cadmium, because for most foods there are no such federal limits. The FDA’s “Closer to Zero” action levels for lead apply to food made for babies and children under two years old, not school-age products like Lunchables.11FDA. Guidance for Industry: Action Levels for Lead in Processed Food Intended for Babies and Young Children The plaintiffs had to benchmark against California’s stricter dose levels and argue that the mere presence of a neurotoxin in a children’s product should have been disclosed regardless of whether any formal threshold was crossed. The FDA has said manufacturers remain responsible for controlling chemical hazards even without specific action levels,12FDA. Closer to Zero: Reducing Childhood Exposure to Contaminants From Foods but the absence of a bright-line federal standard made the disclosure theory harder to anchor.
What Kraft Heinz Said
Kraft Heinz denied the allegations throughout. A spokesperson told CBS News that “all Lunchables products are safe to eat and meet strict safety standards set by government agencies,” adding that the company does not add metals to its products and that lead and cadmium occur naturally in soil and the environment.13CBS News. Lunchables Lead Sodium Consumer Reports Kraft Heinz On the litigation itself, the company said it “strongly disagree[d]” with the allegations and would defend the brand.14Wausau Pilot and Review. Parent Files Lawsuit Amid Lunchables Lead Contamination Concerns
Lunchables Out of School Cafeterias
The lawsuits produced no payout, but the broader controversy did produce one concrete change. In September 2024, Consumer Reports and the advocacy group More Perfect Union delivered nearly 50,000 petition signatures to the USDA urging removal of Lunchables from the National School Lunch Program.15Consumer Reports Advocacy. Kraft Heinz Removes Lunchables From the National School Lunch Program
On November 12, 2024, Kraft Heinz announced it was voluntarily pulling the Turkey and Cheddar Cracker Stackers and Extra Cheesy Pizza kits from the school program. The company framed it as a business decision, saying “demand did not meet our targets” and that school sales represented “far less than 1% of overall Lunchables sales.”16CNN. Lunchables Removed School Lunch Program A spokesperson called the impact “negligible” and said Kraft Heinz hoped to revisit the program later.17The Guardian. Lunchables Removed National School Lunch Program The USDA did not issue a formal regulatory action; a department spokesperson had earlier said USDA “doesn’t allow or disallow individual food items” and instead sets nutritional standards for meals as a whole.2NPR. Lunchables Consumer Reports School Lunch
Retail Lunchables remain on store shelves. If you want to track whether the Hortin appeal changes anything, the Ninth Circuit docket is where any further movement will surface.