The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) just posted a new question and answer document on how the new Proposition 65 Clear and Reasonable Warning regulations apply to businesses.

• As we previously reported on this blog, California’s OEHHA announced on September 2, 2016, a final rule concerning “clear and reasonable warnings” required under Proposition 65. In general, the new requirements attempt to provide consumers with more detailed information about potential chemical exposures and will be effective on August 30, 2018.

• One of the questions concerns the obligations of suppliers of ingredients that contain a listed chemical. Included in the answer is the following:

  • “A company that manufactures… ingredients that include listed chemicals…would only have responsibility for a consumer warning if it has knowledge that the end use of the component part or ingredient will expose a consumer to a listed chemical at a level that requires a warning…”

  • “For example, if a manufacturer of a food ingredient knows that the ingredient is typically used at high enough concentrations to require a warning in certain types of prepared foods and could thereby result in an exposure under the Act, then the ingredient manufacturer should provide the warning notice to the product manufacturer. An ingredient manufacturer in such a situation may choose to work with the product manufacturer to evaluate whether the product should have a warning and may enter into a contract with product manufacturers to ensure that the warning is appropriately transmitted to the retailer and ultimately the consumer.”