Why are businesses rarely offered precious metal mutual funds by their 401k management company?

I am still ticked off from three years ago when I was rebuked by our investment representative in a company meeting about the urgency of having a precious metals fund as an option in our portfolio of mutual funds. Seeing that the average PM fund is now up close to 30% annually for the last five years angers me even more. There reasoning at the time was that it was too risky, get sued, hmm?? when at the time they were offering risky, high alpha REITS that ultimately collapsed 50–60% in one year.
So, I just want to get a read on those of you that have this option, and how big of a company do you work for. The company I work for has less than 50 employees/investors. What do you suppose is the real reason this once in a life time opportunity is denied to so many?