OEHHA Announces Public Meeting to Receive Comments on Latest Prop. 65 Proposal
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has reportedly drawn criticism from both the food industry and environmental groups over a recent draft proposal to amend its Proposition 65 (Prop. 65) regulations governing food chemicals. Prop. 65 requires food and beverage manufacturers and retailers to provide “clear and reasonable warning“ to individuals about any substance known to the state to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harms. The amendment to “safe harbor” regulations in Title 27, California Code of Regulations, section 25601, would create a centralized Web database where participating manufacturers could post product-specific warning information for use by retailers and consumers. “These are voluntary actions and all food manufacturers or retailers are still free to provide a warning via another ‘safe harbor’ method or any other method that provides a clear and reasonable warning,” according to OEHHA, which has also announced a September 25 public meeting about the proposal and an October 19, 2009, deadline for written comments.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), however, has apparently stated that the proposal not only reflects “a surprising naïveté about food distribution practices,” but fails to adequately protect manufacturers from litigation if retailers fail to post the necessary warnings. GMA said the draft amendment “ignores nearly two years of effort by food producers to develop a Prop. 65 warning program that would provide useful information to consumers, serve the voters’ intent, and maximize participation in the program at all distribution levels.”
In addition, environmental groups have purportedly called for more stringent requirements, urging OEHHA to stipulate that food chemical warnings must appear on product packaging rather than on signs posted at retail sites. See OEHHA Press Release, August 28, 2009; InsideEPA.com, September 4, 2009.
