Keep Drinking Your Coffee, Public Health Experts Say After Judge’s Cancer Label Warning
The science doesn't really back up the ruling on California's law to require a cancer label on coffee. While rodents fed massive amounts of acrylamide do develop cancer, the ones in the study were dosed at rates 1,000 to 10,000 times higher than what humans consume in food.
The Washington Post:
California Ordered To Add Cancer Warning To Coffee, But The Science Doesn’t Hold Up
Storm clouds are brewing in California’s coffee cups. Companies across the state will have to add a cancer-warning label to coffee, a judge ruled this week, because the drink contains a chemical called acrylamide. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Elihu M. Berle sided with a nonprofit organization in a case against Starbucks, Peets and dozens of other coffee chains, saying that businesses that sold coffee were in violation of a state regulation called Proposition 65. Prop 65 requires businesses with at least 10 employees to disclose any carcinogens and toxic chemicals in their products. (Guarino and Rosenberg, 3/30)
Los Angeles Times:
Go Ahead And Drink Your Coffee, Public Health Experts Say
The decision has put public health experts at odds with a state law aimed at safeguarding the health of Californians. "I can understand the logic of the judge, by going by the book. But I can also understand the science," said Mariana Carla Stern, a USC professor who studies diet and cancer. "From the science standpoint, there's no reason the public should worry about drinking coffee." (Karlamangla and Kim, 3/30)
