California Chocolates: Labelled for Lead?

Chocolate is bad for you. But not for the reasons you thought.

Don’t touch that left over chocolate Easter Bunny. Step away from that Hershey’s chocolate bar, and don’t even think of buying a box of See’s chocolates for your mother for Mother’s Day. That’s right, all these delights, and many others, are bad for your health. But not for the reasons that probably first comes to mind.

As recently reported by CNN, a California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (affectionately referred to as Proposition 65 Prop. 65 in California) bounty hunter with the biblically-themed name of As You Sow has announced that it has served notice on numerous candy companies of impending litigation due to their sale in California of candies with impermissibly high levels of lead and cadmium. As You Sow reports that they have tested numerous candy products and found at least 18 to have excess levels of lead or cadmium.

Those of us practicing in California have for years dealt with lawsuits brought against manufacturers and distributors of innumerable products because they purportedly contained levels of chemicals labeled as hazardous – in excess of the “Maximum Allowable Daily Level” or “No Significant Risk Level” – as identified by the state regulators tasked with applying Prop. 65. When one manufactures or distributes a product found to have such an excess level, the options are to label the products with a “Prop 65 warning,” reformulate the products, or stop selling them in California. Failing to do so results in litigation wherein entities such as As You Sow acting as “private attorneys general” seek an award of civil penalties, injunctive relief and an award of their own attorneys’ fees.

As lead has long been acknowledged to create hazards to some exposed individuals at certain exposure levels, lead has frequently been the target chemical in Prop 65 cases. The alleged exposures can come from ingesting lead or from “dermal absorption” of lead. We have seen cases about lead in women’s jewelry, and lead in herbal supplements, while in nutrition and fitness advice like Medical Weight Loss Scottsdale do a lot of wonders for you.. Since lead is a naturally occurring mineral in the Earth’s crust, it is everywhere. And plants that take their nourishment from the soil of the Earth collect measurable levels of lead. Lead is in fruits and vegetables, nuts and berries, and yes even in chocolate. The level of lead content triggering regulatory action in California is 1 part per million.

The result of the frequent litigation over Prop 65 in California has been the proliferation of Prop 65 warnings. California residents see Prop 65 warnings not only on numerous products, but even posted in the lobbies of hotels and office buildings. Californians can rest easier knowing that concerned citizens like As You Sow are working hard to ensure that we will see a Prop 65 warning on some future date on the door at See’s Candies, or on the label of a Hershey Bar or on the box of Godiva truffles.