Yesterday, the Environmental Law Foundation, through its attorneys Rose, Klein & Marias, LLP, and Law Office of Gideon Kracov filed an additional round of notices regarding violations of California's Prop 65 for failing to warn consumers about exposure to the carcinogen acrylamide in potato chips.
The companies receiving notice are: Albertsons Inc.; New Albertsons, Inc.; The Vons Companies, Inc.; Pavilions; Safeway, Inc.; Safeway Stores 28, Inc.; Safeway Stores 71, Inc.; Safeway Stores 73, Inc.; Safeway Stores 87, Inc.; Safeway Stores 88, Inc.; Safeway Stores 91, Inc.; Safeway Stores 98, Inc.; Costco Wholesale Corporation; Ralph's Grocery Company; The Kroger Company; Fred Meyer Stores, Inc.; Food 4 Less of California, Inc.; Food 4 Less Holdings, Inc.; Food 4 Less Merchandising, Inc.; Food 4 Less GM, Inc.; Food 4 Less of Southern California, Inc.; Foods Co.; Stater Bros. Market; Stater Bros. Holdings, Inc.; Smart & Final, Inc.; The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.; Birds Eye Foods, Inc.; Vestar/Agrilink Associates Holdings, LLC; Trader Joe's Company; Trader Joe's Company; Trader Joe's East, Inc.; Poore Brothers, Inc.; Whole Foods Market California, Inc.; Whole Foods Market, Inc.; Raley's, Inc.; Raley's TM, Inc.; Raley's of New Mexico, Inc.; Raley's Folsom, Inc.; Pik-Nik Foods, USA; Great American Foods, Inc.; Snyder's of Hanover; Snyder's of Hanover Mfg., Inc.; Snyder's of Hanover Sales Company; Zappe Endeavors, LLC; Seasons' Enterprises, Ltd.; Seasons' Enterprises, Ltd.; Seasons' Enterprises, Ltd.
ELF previously filed notices alleging the same violations by Kettle Foods, Inc.; Lance, Inc.; PepsiCo, Inc.; and the Proctor & Gamble Company and ultimately filed lawsuits in cooperation with the California Attorney General in August of 2005. In addition, notices regarding the same chemical in potato chips and french fries were filed by Environmental World Watch and Council and Education for Research on Toxics, against companies such as KFC, McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's. All the notices eventually resulted in a set of lawsuits in one court in Los Angeles, with cases being filed by the California Attorney General in conjunction with the environmental groups.
In March of 2006 the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that technical defects in the notices would prohibit almost all of the plaintiffs from pursuing the claims and that the Attorney General would prosecute nearly all of the cases alone.
No further action can be taken on the new notices for 70 days. It is unknown what, if any, action the Attorney General may take on the new notices.
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