What is Prop 65?Updated 2 months ago
Worrying about Prop 65 is the last thing we want you to be doing!
The statement you are asking about is required by a labeling law in California called Proposition 65. (Everyone calls it Prop 65.) https://www.p65warnings.ca.gov/ To sell products in California, we must have this statement on certain products. The warning is not based on any one ingredient in particular. You should always be aware and take heed of all product warnings. Does a Prop 65 warning mean that the product will actually cause cancer or other reproductive harm? Not necessarily. Prop 65 standards for warnings are often very stringent. For example, for reproductive toxicants, the level for warnings is 1000 times lower than the lowest level at which animal studies reported no reproductive health effect. A Prop 65 warning does not automatically mean that the product is unsafe.
Lead and Four Sigmatic Products
We are continuously working with our raw material vendors to source materials with as low heavy metal content as possible. Once we source our ingredients, we do multiple rounds of 3rd party lab testing to confirm that the heavy metals present in the finished products are consistently below the Prop 65 threshold for daily heavy metal consumption. When we are able to demonstrate that, we remove the P65 warning from the products. We have been able to remove the warning on >90% of Four Sigmatic products at this time! :)
Of our 70+ products, there are only 7 Four Sigmatic products that require the Prop 65 label:
- Plant-based Proteins (4 SKUs)
- Calm Organic Chai Latte
- Gut Health Organic Herbal Tea
- Calm Organic Dark Hot Cocoa
Lead occurs in foods because of its presence in the environment. Lead in the soil can settle on or be absorbed by plants grown for fruits or vegetables, or plants used as ingredients in food, including dietary supplements. Lead that gets into or on plants cannot be completely removed by washing or other food processing steps. Lead in plants or water may also be ingested and absorbed by the animals we eat, which is then passed on to us. It is also possible for the lead to enter the food supply inadvertently through manufacturing processes. For example, plumbing that contains lead can contaminate water used in food production. Although lead levels in food are decreasing, it’s not possible to remove or completely prevent lead from entering the food supply[*].
Cadmium is found naturally occurring in the environment, especially in regions with high volcanic activity. Certain crops, such as cacao, are grown in these regions, and as a result, the plant absorbs cadmium from the soil. Similarly to lead, cadmium cannot be completely removed through washing or processing.
In 2017, the FDA published a report on heavy metals in foods[*]. Not to scare you, but there are detectable levels of lead in many foods you love. That doesn’t mean they aren’t nutritious or don’t have functional benefits. But it’s just a fact of our modern life and not something to stress about.
We ensure and guarantee that each batch of our products always contains less than 0.5 ppm of lead. (One part per million is equal to one drop of water diluted into 100 liters.)
Don't live in California?
We have been able to remove the warning on most of the Four Sigmatic products at this time! Only less than 5% of our products have the statement :) We just aren’t able to produce smaller batches to only serve our Cali customers. (Maybe someday!).
I also want to assure you that all of our products are tested in third-party laboratories. This includes heavy metals, microbial quality, aflatoxins, mycotoxins, mold, yeast, and pesticides. You can learn more about our quality program here.
Not finding what you’re looking for? Please feel free to reach out to our Customer Success Team at [email protected] or (213) 699-4616, and we’d be happy to help!