Held v. Eden Foods, Inc.

The parties involved in the case Held v. Eden Foods, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on July 20, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. alleged that Eden Foods, Inc. (“Eden”) sold hijiki type dried seaweed containing arsenic in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Eden agreed not to sell any hijiki type dried seaweed in California after December 15, 2015 unless the seaweed contains no more than 5 parts per billion of arsenic when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or bear Proposition 65 warnings pursuant to section 2.3 of the Judgment.  Should Eden provide written certification that all hijiki type dried seaweed sold in California qualifies as reformulated by April 15, 2016, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $36,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.