Coffee Industry Mulls Options After Ruling Requires Cancer Warnings
- 6 years ago
Coffee Industry Mulls Options After Ruling Requires Cancer Warnings
“Since defendants failed to prove that coffee confers any human health benefits, defendants have failed to satisfy their burden of proving
that sound considerations of public health support an alternate risk level for acrylamide in coffee,” the judge wrote
The National Coffee Association, whose members include Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts, said in a statement on Thursday
that it was “currently considering all of its options, including potential appeals and further legal actions.”
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed in 2010 by the Council for Education and Research on Toxics, a nonprofit group based in Long Beach.
The group charged that Starbucks and other companies — a group
that eventually included 91 defendants — did not warn consumers that ingesting coffee would expose them to acrylamide, a chemical formed when coffee beans are roasted.
“Since defendants failed to prove that coffee confers any human health benefits, defendants have failed to satisfy their burden of proving
that sound considerations of public health support an alternate risk level for acrylamide in coffee,” the judge wrote
The National Coffee Association, whose members include Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts, said in a statement on Thursday
that it was “currently considering all of its options, including potential appeals and further legal actions.”
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed in 2010 by the Council for Education and Research on Toxics, a nonprofit group based in Long Beach.
The group charged that Starbucks and other companies — a group
that eventually included 91 defendants — did not warn consumers that ingesting coffee would expose them to acrylamide, a chemical formed when coffee beans are roasted.