Food industry giant Mondelēz International, Inc., formerly Kraft Foods, will pay $750,000 to settle allegations that it sold ginger snap cookies containing lead in excess of California limits without the warning required by California’s Proposition 65.
“The levels of lead found in Nabisco’s Ginger Snap cookies posed a serious public health threat, potentially impacting the brain development of our children,” said Attorney General Harris. “Parents need accurate information to make educated food choices for their children. My office will continue to enforce Proposition 65 to guarantee that all Californians are fully informed when hazardous substances and chemicals can be found in consumer products.”
Under the settlement, Mondelēz will agree to strict product sourcing and testing protocols that limit lead in its Nabisco Ginger Snap cookies to no more than 30 parts per billion per serving and will pay approximately $750,000 in civil penalties, costs and attorneys’ fees.
The company will hire a food quality auditor to train personnel, will fund ongoing independent auditing of its products to monitor for lead, and will monitor supply chains to ensure raw materials are within acceptable limits.
Lead is a neurotoxin that primarily affects the central nervous system, putting children with developing brains at a greater risk of suffering from the neurotoxic effects of lead.
While no safe lead exposure threshold has been identified, California’s Proposition 65 requires a warning to consumers if they are exposed to 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving per day.
The Food and Drug Administration recommends that children do not ingest candies that contain more than 100 parts per billion of lead.
The Attorney General’s office and District Attorneys began their investigation of Nabisco Ginger Snaps in 2013, after a Center for Environmental Health investigation into these and other cookies containing ginger. Testing revealed that a serving of Nabisco brand Ginger Snaps contained lead levels up to 9 times the level that requires a warning under Proposition 65.
Mondelēz was not providing any Proposition 65 warnings to its customers.
The ginger snap cookies have since been reformulated.
Lead sources in the cookies were linked to ginger and molasses.
Experts have linked high lead levels in molasses to soil in which sugar is grown, and also to the manufacturing process.
Sources of lead in powdered ginger have also been linked to contaminated soil in which ginger is grown, and to the brining process in which it is dried.
Mondelēz is the world’s largest manufacturer of processed snack foods. Mondelēz brands include Nabisco, Oreo, Cadbury and Trident.
Nabisco brand ginger snap cookies were the subject of the lawsuit.
Proposition 65, “The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986,” is California’s landmark law which serves to protect public health and the environment by requiring businesses to provide warnings if they expose individuals to any listed carcinogens or reproductive toxins.
At least once a year, the state must update a list of chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm.
This list includes approximately 800 chemicals. Proposition 65 mandates that businesses notify Californians about significant amounts of chemicals in the products they purchase, in their homes or workplaces, or that are released into the environment. It also prohibits California businesses from knowingly discharging significant amounts of listed chemicals into sources of drinking water.