Held Reaches Agreement w/North American Food Distributing Company Re: Arsenic in Seaweed

Thanks to the efforts of TCG client Dr. Anthony Held, North American Food Distributing Company (NAFDC) entered a binding agreement to cease the sale and distribution of dried seaweed products in California unless, and until they are virtually free of the toxic heavy metal arsenic.  Held alleged that NAFDC had violated Proposition 65 by selling dried seaweed products in California that contained arsenic, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, without the requisite health hazard warnings.

The settlement provides up to $10,000 in civil penalties, three-quarters of which will go to the State of California for the benefit of the public health and the environment.  Under the agreement, NAFDC will pay an initial civil penalty of $2,000.  A final civil penalty of $8,000 is contingent upon NAFDC providing Held with written certification that it has reformulated its seaweed products sold in California to be virtually free of arsenic by the end of the 2014 calendar year.   

For more information, please see the case summary on our website.

The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65.  Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings.  The Chanler Group has represented citizen enforcers of Proposition 65 for more than twenty years.