America’s lead trade association for the food supplements industry is backing a cross-industry coalition pushing Congress to approve a law that would establish a federal standard for product labelling and ingredients disclosure. Such a law would effectively override state operated ‘right to know’ laws such as California’s controversial Proposition 65 law, which critics say has led to safe products being forced to carry “scary” warning labels.
The Natural Products Association says it is joining the Coalition for Accurate Product Labels as part of “ongoing efforts to ensure that consumers have access to accurate and meaningful information about the nutritional supplements and natural products they use each and every day”.
Daniel Fabricant, president and CEO of NPA, said: “Consumers have a right to know what is in the products they use each and every day, especially when it comes to making decisions about taking products to support their health. However, unfounded warning label programs like those in California only make product labels more confusing for consumers. Congress must act to protect consumers and put an end to expensive lawsuits and unnecessary new regulatory burdens that are difficult for small businesses to manage.”
“Congress must act to protect consumers and put an end to expensive lawsuits and unnecessary new regulatory burdens that are difficult for small businesses to manage”
‘Right to know’ laws such as California’s Proposition 65 – which mandates that warnings must appear on pack when a product contains any one of 900 substances ingredients “know to the state of California” as carcinogens or reproductive toxins – have drawn wide criticism from industry groups. They argue that the warnings often do not reflect actual risk and have cost businesses millions of dollars defending legal cases (Prop 65 enforcement is carried out by civil lawsuits.
Supplement and natural food products can be caught by Prop 65 as a result of the inclusion of specific ingredients (for example, aloe vera leaf extract), the presence of processing by-products like the carcinogen acrylamide, or environmental contamination of final products or ingredients.
The Natural Products Association says that it is joining the Coalition “as a growing number of states and cities are making it more difficult for consumers to understand and read label requiring or proposing mandatory labels on packaging that are not backed by science and that imply risks when none exist.”
But some parts of the natural products industry are supportive of right to know laws. Martin Wolf, sustainability director at green household products brand Seventh Generation told Bloomberg that “Prop 65 is achieving its objectives” of limiting the number of hazardous substances consumers are exposed to. Senior attorney at environmental advocacy group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, meanwhile argued that the Coalition’s campaign threatened “the public’s right to know about dangerous chemicals in products by preventing states from informing citizens”.
Main image: Example of a ‘Prop 65’ warning on a supplements bottle.