Lead In Baby Food Passes Test, In A Prop 65 Case

The Defendant in a California Prop 65 case successfully defended the presence of lead in its children’s food products, including juice and baby food. Proposition 65 is the law that requires warning labels on products that are “known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.” In this case, Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) v. Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp., there was no dispute about the presence of the lead. The question, says Dorsey & Whitney attorney Mark Kaster, was whether the measured amount was below the “safe harbor” concentration level that is allowed by law, called the Maximum Allowable Dose Level, in which case no Prop 65 warning label is required. More specifically, the question in this case was whether “it was appropriate to average the exposure over an appropriate period of time.” The defendant in this case argued that it was, and it prevailed, first in a trial court and then in a ruling affirming that decision from a California appeals court.