California Judge Rules Starbucks, Other Companies Must Include Cancer Warning on Coffee

A Los Angeles judge has ruled Starbucks, and other coffee roasters, distributors, and retailers must include a warning label for cancer on their beverages, in accordance with a California law. Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle came to this decision after failing to receive evidence from the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain, or any other company proving that acrylamide, a carcinogen produced during the roasting process, was “insignificant.” Acrylamide can also be found in french fries.

“While plaintiff offered evidence that consumption of coffee increases the risk of harm to the fetus, to infants, to children and to adults, defendants' medical and epidemiology experts testified that they had no opinion on causation," Berle wrote, perWSMV. "Defendants failed to satisfy their burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that consumption of coffee confers a benefit to human health."

A nonprofit group sued Starbucks, in addition to about 90 other companies, in 2010, claiming that they violated a state law which forced them to provide customers with a warning if there are chemicals that could potentially cause cancer. These companies acknowledged that the existence of acrylamide in the roasting process was true, but argued that it was present at harmless levels, and ultimately made the beans more flavorful.

Raphael Metzger, the attorney representing the nonprofit group in their suit, stated that their ultimate goal is to simply get acrylamide out of the coffee. “I’m addicted — like two-thirds of the population,” Metzger told the Orange County Register. “I would like the industry to get acrylamide out of the coffee, so my addiction doesn’t force me to ingest it.”