What is the Proposition 65 warning about?
Proposition 65 (The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986) is a California law that requires warnings if certain toxic substances — specifically chemicals that could potentially cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive harm — may be contained within a product sold in California. Currently, there are more than 900 chemicals on the list that require a warning. The requirements for warning labels apply to amounts above what would present a 1-in-100,000 risk of cancer over 70 years of exposure, or above one-one-thousandth (1/1000) of the no observable effect level for reproductive defects.
Is a product with a Prop 65 Warning Safe?
IN short, yes. The amounts of the substances that require a warning under Prop 65 are significantly lower than the national standards considered safe by the FDA and EPA, sometimes by as much as 1000 times lower. Metals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury are found in soils all over the world, both in naturally occurring amounts and in some cases as a result of human activity over the centuries. The amounts are usually minuscule and measured in parts per billion or micrograms and are safe to consume.
For example, a raw Red Apple contains about 8 times the amount of lead and more than twice the amount of arsenic than the limit for a warning under Prop 65. Brussels sprouts can contain 16 times the amount of lead that would require a warning, and Italian salad dressing can have 24 times the limit. Even Starbucks has to label their coffee with Prop 65 warnings.
Natural ingredients like herbs, cocoa powder, greens, oats, and whey, which all come from the ground, may contain trace amounts of heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, lead, or mercury. Because some of our products include these natural ingredients, we must include a warning under Prop 65. The amounts of these substances in any of our products are perfectly safe and meet, and typically exceed, federal safety standards.
