Citizen petition on Prop 65
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
California's Proposition 65, when applied to dietary supplements and foods, "causes consumer confusion, "misbrands" safe and wholesome products, and frustrates FDA's ability to carry out its statutory mandates," dietary supplement marketer Swanson Health Products says in a citizen petition submitted to FDA Jan. 18. Therefore, the products should not be included in the act, the firm adds. Submitted on behalf of Swanson by law firm Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, the petition maintains that Prop 65's application to supplements and foods is "escalating," and that a private enforcer recently advised Swanson that it plans an "industry-wide enforcement action shortly," which it claims will result in the supplement industry following the requirements it is demanding of the firm. "Private enforcers, seeing the vast amount of money that is to be made, identify more food and dietary products that they can prosecute," Swanson adds. The National Uniformity for Food Act was introduced in Congress in 2006 to unify warning label requirements and pre-empt state-imposed requirements like Prop 65. Though the act was passed by the House that year it is awaiting further action by Congress (1"The Tan Sheet" March 13, 2006, In Brief)...