Judge Rules that California Starbucks must Contain Cancer Warning

Starbucks, and other coffee shops in California will have to start labeling their coffee drinks with cancer warnings or face millions of dollars in fines. This decision comes in the wake of a non-profit group recently suing around 90 different coffee stores citing violation of California’s law that requires companies to warn consumers of cancer-causing chemicals in their products.

One of the chemicals at the heart of the lawsuits is acrylamide. It is a byproduct produced by the roasting of beans and is present in brewed coffee.

The judge ultimately came to the decision to mandate warnings on coffee products because coffee companies had not proved that there was no significant risk from acrylamide created by the roasting process.

The National Coffee Association (NCA) stated that the warning labels would be misleading as the U.S. Government’s dietary guidelines state that drinking coffee can be a part of a healthy lifestyle.

Coffee retailers had until April 10, 2018 to file any objections, most settled and agreed to posting warnings and to pay large fines.

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