(BCN) — Bay Area prosecutors and the state’s attorney general announced Friday that a lawsuit brought against a food industry giant over high lead levels in cookies has been settled.

Mondelez International, which owns Nabisco, Oreo and other brands, agreed to put protocols in place to monitor and limit lead in its products and will pay $823,750 in penalties, officials said.

The lawsuit was brought against the company after a 2013 investigation by Attorney General Kamala Harris’ office and 10 district attorney’s offices, including Alameda, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Napa, Solano and Marin.

The investigation was launched after the Center for Environmental Health discovered high levels of lead in Nabisco Ginger Snaps and other products, linked to supplies of molasses and ginger, according to prosecutors.

Testing the Nabisco Ginger Snaps revealed that they had lead levels that required a warning label on the product, due to California’s Proposition 65, prosecutors said.

The products had lead levels up to nine times the limit that requires a warning, according to Harris’ office.

“The levels of lead found in (these) cookies posed a serious public health threat, potentially impacting the brain development of our children,” Harris said in a statement.

Lead is a neurotoxin that reportedly affects numerous organ systems. Exposure to low levels of lead early in life has been linked to negative effects on learning, memory and behavior, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Harris’ office reported that the settlement with Mondelez International is part of a series of cases aiming to remove lead from consumer products such as Mexican candy, vitamins and nutritional supplements.

Nabisco’s Ginger Snaps have been reformulated, according to Harris’ office. Mondelez International will limit the lead in these cookies to no more than 30 parts per billion per serving.

The company agreed to fund independent auditing of its products and to monitor supply chains to ensure raw materials remain within acceptable limits.Harris said her office will continue to work to “guarantee that

Harris said her office will continue to work to “guarantee that all Californians are fully informed when hazardous substances and chemicals can be found in consumer products.”