Consistent with our core principles, S&B FOODS strives to provide high quality products for all our global customers. We are dedicated to meeting consumer product and food safety standards applicable to our products. In compliance with California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, otherwise known as Proposition 65 ("Prop 65"), all businesses manufacturing, selling or distributing consumer products in or into California are required to inform consumers if a product may contain any listed chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. This list, updated annually by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), contains over 1,000 chemicals to date, including a wide range of naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals.
You may see some S&B FOODS products with a Prop 65 warning. However, by labeling under Prop 65, we are simply notifying you that one or more of the Prop 65-listed chemicals may be present in the product over certain exposure levels established in California (known as "safe harbor" levels). While the amount of a particular chemical in our products may be less than the safe harbor levels and/or entirely naturally occurring, we have elected to place a Prop 65 warning on certain products out of an abundance of caution and to inform the customers we value.
Below are some common questions with respect to Prop 65:
What is Prop 65?
Prop 65 is essentially a "right to know" law for California residents and requires that a "clear and reasonable" warning be provided to consumers who may be exposed to certain chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer or reproductive harm from use of the consumer product. Prop 65 does not mean a product is unsafe. Prop 65 does not ban or restrict the sale of products. Prop 65 simply means if a business has a product that enters California and that product contains a Prop 65-listed chemical that could potentially lead to an exposure over certain "safe harbor" levels set by the California agency OEHHA, the business must include a warning on its product. For more information on Prop 65 generally, you can refer to the OEHHA website at: http://oehha.ca.gov/Prop65/background/p65plain.html
I don't live in California. Why do I see Prop 65 labels?
By California law, California consumers must be provided a "clear and reasonable" warning about any chemical on the Prop 65 list contained in a product, unless it can be shown that the level of exposure are below certain "safe harbor" levels set by OEHHA. If you do not live in California, you may still see a Prop 65 label because distributors may sell our products into California and it is difficult to limit labeling to products only being sold into California.
What does a Prop 65 label mean?
We are dedicated to selling safe, high-quality products for our consumers in accordance with federal and international food safety standards. The presence of certain Prop 65 chemicals in food products is usually the result of naturally occurring processes. We are electing to place a Prop 65 warning label on some of its products out of an abundance of caution and to ensure compliance with the California law.