GOED Reaches Prop 65 Settlements

SALT LAKE CITYAs long as 30 members of the of the Global Organization for EPA and DHA (GOED) adhere to the GOED voluntarily monograph, they will not be sued by two plaintiffs under Proposition 65 violations, according to recent settlements the trade organization made. Both the Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation and FishOilSafety.com had brought suits against GOED and it's member companies under California's Prop. 65 law, which limits the about toxins dietary supplements can contain.

In one agreement, entered into the California Superior Court on Feb. 1,  the Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation agreed it will drop its current suit and will not bring further cases if the 30 companies that are a part of the settlement adhere to GOED's monograph.

Similarly, GOED previously reached an agreement with Chris Manthey and Benson Chiles, founders of FishOilSafety.com, that assures that these plaintiffs will not start any new lawsuits against GOED member companies whose products meet the agreement's standards. This agreement also requires GOED to perform testing of product pulled from California retail shelves as well as to incorporate the settlement's standards into the GOED Voluntary Monograph.

Per GOED's monograph, total PCBs in a final product need to be below 0.09 mg/kg, and the sum of dioxins, furans and dioxin-like PCBs needs to be below 5 pg/g. GOED mandates that by Dec. 31, 2012, the sum of dioxins, furans and dioxin-like PCBs will need to be below 3 pg/g.

For a more in-depth review of Prop. 65, check out the INSIDER article "Prop 65 An Immodest Proposal?" by Robin Koon.