Media Release

Landmark Settlement Protects Children from
Lead-Candy Risks

Community Persistence Results in Candy Makers Agreeing to Get the Lead Out

(June 30, 2006) - In a landmark agreement signed June 30, 2006, major candy makers including subsidiaries of Mars and Hersheys have for the first time agreed to strict standards for protecting children from lead exposures in candies imported from Mexico. The settlement is the result of a lawsuit brought in June 2004 by the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC), the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), the California Attorney General, the Los Angeles City Attorney and the Alameda County District Attorney under California’s Proposition 65 law.

Leticia Ayala, Director of Environmental Health Coalition’s Campaign to Eliminate Childhood Lead Poisoning joined Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo at yesterday’s media conference. The candy makers agreed to reduce lead in their products to less than 100 parts per million of lead, meeting a revised standard for lead in candy proposed by the federal Food and Drug Administration last year. The companies also agreed to contribute to a fund that will be used for industry-wide testing of imported candies, and to a fund for outreach on reducing lead risks to communities that could be most at-risk from lead candy exposures. The companies will also pay penalties and attorney fees totaling nearly $1 million.

“Today’s settlement is the second victory for San Diego community leaders who have worked for nearly four years to eliminate lead in candy,” said Luz Palomino, a Community Organizer with Environmental Health Coalition, a San Diego/Tijuana environmental justice organization. “As soon as they learned that the candy so loved by their children could be poisoning them, the women took action – they bought candy at their local stores, had it tested, and once the results were in, they began their crusade to get the lead out of all candy. This is a tremendous victory for children, parents and everyone who cares about protecting our health.”

It took three legislative sessions for the first victory to be realized, but AB121 was finally passed last year and took effect January 1, 2006. AB121 bans the sale of candies contaminated with lead above the “naturally occurring” level. The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment within the California Environmental Protection Agency is currently conducting the research to establish this level and the results are to be released in July.

EHC’s Leticia Ayala directs the organization’s lead campaign and said, “These two victories go hand-in-hand. AB121 created the law, but the settlement signals the willingness of the candy manufacturers to start making the necessary changes and provides funds to implement the law. The settlement is historic because it provides for funds to assist smaller Mexican candy companies to come into compliance to prevent children from consuming contaminated candies anywhere in the U.S. or Mexico.”

California’s Proposition 65 law requires warnings on products that can expose the public to cancer-causing substances or reproductive toxins. Among the companies signing the settlement today are some of the world’s largest candy makers and the three leading sellers of lead-tainted candies from Mexico. The three are Effem Mexico, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based Mars candy company; Grupo Lorena, owned by U.S.-based Hersheys; and the Mexican-based Dulces Vero company.

Information will be made available to the public as candies are certified as lead-safe. Environmental Health Coalition will post this information on our website: www.environmentalhealth.org.

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