About Prop 65

Our Obsession for Quality and Safety

Ka’Chava is proudly produced in state-of-the-art facilities with quality and safety standards exceeding FDA and cGMP guidelines.

We want to assure all residents of California that our products are tested regularly to ensure safety and quality.

Each and every raw ingredient we receive must pass all three levels of strict quality control analysis (physical, chemical, and microbiological) before it’s even approved for use.

Then, all three levels of analysis are repeated yet again on each finished batch. These tests are done in-house at the manufacturing facility, as well as periodically via third-party laboratories for independent verification.

As part of this quality system, we test every batch for heavy metals, ensuring levels of mercury, arsenic, lead, and cadmium are well below any specified safety limits set by the FDA. All of our products are safe for use as directed on the label.

So What is Prop 65?

Proposition 65 or “Prop 65” refers to a California state law, formally known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.

Prop 65 requires warnings on any product being sold in California if they contain any one of a list of 900 chemicals and elements deemed to be toxic, above certain minimum levels - even if those levels have not been shown to cause harm by the FDA.

Prop 65 is a California disclosure law, not a safety standard. The law is NOT a national standard for health or safety, though; and California’s own Prop 65 website says “a warning does not necessarily mean a product is in violation of any product-safety standards or requirements.”

The Controversy:

Critics of the law claim that by setting such low threshold limits, it creates a catch-all effect that makes it very difficult for consumers to tell if the warnings present a high risk, low risk, or no risk at all.

How low are the limits? Consider that the warning threshold established by California for these chemical compounds that are identified as reproductive toxins is 1/1000th of the “No Observable Effect Level,” i.e. the highest level at which the chemical causes no harm based on scientific studies. This means that the warning threshold is set by taking the No Observable Effect Level and dividing it by 1000.

In other words, if scientific research demonstrated that a person could consume up to 1,000 grams of a compound without experiencing any negative effects, Prop 65 would still require a warning on any product containing just 1 gram or more of that compound.

How Do Companies Respond?

Most companies, especially small businesses without deep pockets, chose to provide Prop 65 warnings out of an abundance of caution.

This is the case for companies in every sector of the economy from beauty products, clothing, household, food and beverage, dietary supplements, electronics, furniture, and so many more.

Prop 65 warnings greet guests at Disneyland, Whole Foods and other local supermarkets, hotels, barbershops, apartment buildings, retail stores, restaurants, drive-thrus, banks, etc.

The “Naturally Occurring Exception”

Since Prop 65’s warning threshold for certain chemicals is even lower than what occurs naturally in some fruits, vegetables, grains, and other wholesome foods - the law makes an exception for chemicals in foods that are naturally-occurring.

For example, the Prop 65 maximum allowable dose level (MADL) for lead is 0.5 mcg/day, yet even some organic plant foods naturally contain lead at much higher—but still very safe—levels, because they absorb trace levels of lead from the soil. Some examples of common foods with more than 0.5 mcg of lead per serving include:

Avocado, Apples, Carrots, Citrus, Cocoa, Cucumber, Green Beans, Green Peas, Grapefruit, Onions, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, Wine, Whole Wheat Bread...

Because warnings are not required if chemicals present in food are naturally occurring, most food companies do not put Prop 65 warnings on their food products.

The “Naturally-Occurring” Exemption Also Applies to Ka’Chava and other Health
Supplements

Just as most fruits, veggies, and other whole foods are exempt from carrying a warning because the chemicals they contain are naturally occurring, this same exemption applies to dietary supplements made from whole foods.

Unfortunately, plaintiffs’ attorneys have targeted dietary supplements in Prop 65 litigation. In response to aggressive enforcement tactics and meritless litigation, many supplement companies have responded by placing Prop 65 warnings on their products.

This is why you’ll see Prop 65 mentioned on Ka’Chava and so many other greens and superfood powders, protein powders, and meal replacements—even though the trace chemicals they contain are from whole foods.

Here are just a few of the brands that feature a Prop 65 warning on at least one of their products:

Nativa Organics, Garden of Life, Amazing Grass, Goop, NOW Foods, Gaia Herbs, Thorne Supplements, Huel, Four Sigmatic, Nutiva, Laird Superfood, Country Life, Organic India, 365 Everyday Value (Whole Foods store brand), and hundreds more.

To Learn More About Prop 65

Here’s an article from the LA Times titled:
“You See Warnings Everywhere. But Does Prop 65 Really Protect You?
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-07-23/prop-65-product-warnings