Cal/EPA Moves Forward with Rules to Address Prop. 65 Chemicals in Foods
California EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) convened a conference call for stakeholders February 18, 2009, to discuss how to move forward with plans to require food retailers to warn the public about the presence of Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) chemicals in foods. OEHHA’s general objectives are to prepare regulatory language vetted by stakeholders and undertake formal notice-and-comment regulatory proceedings by June.
The agency seeks assistance on drafting provisions about (i) manufacturer versus retailer responsibilities relating to warning information; (ii) structure, process and operation of a proposed information/warning clearinghouse; (iii) methods of delivering warnings; and (iv) establishing the content of warning messages. Volunteers are currently being solicited to join drafting groups, and initial drafts are expected to be completed by April 17. OEHHA will post the drafts on Cal/EPA’s Web site, and another stakeholders’ meeting will be held on April 23.
Prop. 65 requires warnings about chemicals known to the state to cause cancer or birth defects. With hundreds of chemicals currently listed and thousands of food products on retailers’ shelves containing many of them, industry interests have questioned the need for such regulation, noting that a number of the listed chemicals are actually beneficial nutrients and that early draft proposals will do little more than confuse consumers and generate litigation.
