Ninth Circuit Decision Foreshadows Major Blow To Prop 65 Acrylamide Claims

• Published date: 23 March 2022
• Subject Matter: Consumer Protection, Energy and Natural Resources, Chemicals, Consumer Law
• Law Firm: Jenner & Block
• Author: Matthew G. Lawson

On Thursday, March 17, 2022, the Ninth Circuit issued a critical decision in California Chamber of Commerce v. CERT, No. 21-15745 (9th Cir. 2022), reinstating a preliminary injunction against the filing or prosecuting of any new lawsuits to enforce Proposition 65's warning requirements as applied to acrylamide in food and beverage products. The decision reinstalls a roadblock against future lawsuits and may offer a light at the end of the tunnel for the regulated community by signaling the existence of a valid defense against Proposition 65 claims where the health risks of a chemical remain subject to ongoing debate and disagreement from scientific experts. The decision is a blow against Proposition 65 plaintiffs who had recently succeeded in petitioning the court to grant an emergency stay of the district court's preliminary injunction pending appeal.

Proposition 65 provides that "[n]o person in the course of doing business shall knowingly and intentionally expose any individual to a chemical known to the state to cause cancer . . . without first giving clear and reasonable warning to such individual." A chemical is deemed to be "known to the state to cause cancer" if it meets one of three statutory criteria: (1) the state's qualified experts believe "it has been clearly shown through scientifically valid testing according to generally accepted principals to cause cancer"; (2) "a body considered to be authoritative by such experts has formally identified it as causing cancer"; or (3) "an agency of the state or federal government has formally required it to be labeled or identified as causing cancer." See Cal. Health & Safety Code ' 25249.8(b). Where a consumer product contains such a chemical, the manufacturer / distributor of the product must provide a warning to consumers, unless they can affirmatively show that quantities of the chemical within the product are below certain "safe harbor" levels. Manufacturers that fail to provide a warning notice may be subject to significant civil penalties, often pursuant to claims brought by private plaintiff enforcers.

A particularly controversial chemical on Proposition 65's list is acrylamide. Unlike many Proposition 65 chemicals, which are often additives or ingredients within a consumer product or food, acrylamide is a substance that forms through a natural chemical reaction between sugars and asparagine, an amino acid, in plant-based foods - including potato and certain grain-based foods. Acrylamide often...