CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 65

5 Star Nutrition holds itself to an internal standard of service that extends far beyond the humble requirements for our office. We strive to ensure we are providing only the most rigorously tested, impeccably clean, and maximally beneficial products to help people in all walks of life.

Our cGMP certified manufacturing facilities consistently test individual ingredients upon receipt to substantiate identity, purity, strength, and composition. This ensures quality ingredients are used for production. In addition, 5 Star Nutrition requires testing on every produced lot to confirm the formula meets the product specification, label claims, and requirements for heavy metals and microbial contamination.

What is California Prop 65?

Proposition 65 requires businesses to provide warnings to Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. These chemicals can be in the products that Californians purchase, in their homes or workplaces, or that are released into the environment. By requiring that this information be provided, Proposition 65 enables Californians to make informed decisions about their exposures to these chemicals.

Understanding California Prop 65

The mandatory language included is disturbing, but with a little further investigation, you will understand that Prop 65 is an attempt to provide a valid signal to consumers. The primary goal of Prop 65 was to warn consumers of products that contained ‘heavy’ metals like Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic, Mercury, and other chemicals deemed harmful. While this sounds like a good idea, particularly as those metals can be used in pesticides, the problem is that these metals also occur naturally in the soil and water supply of even the most pristine environments. Anything that occurs naturally in the soil and water supply will also be found in the plants that grow in those ecosystems.

Some of the healthiest foods in the world, pulled straight out of the organic soil, are above Prop 65 limits. Since 5 Star Nutrition utilizes many Earth grown nutrients, some of our products are also above Prop 65 limits. Unless you ingest an amount of these metals far in excess of the levels in our products, the metals in organic form are not harmful for you. If they were, anyone eating a diet high in organic vegetables would be at higher health risk! We know that isn’t true. All 5 Star Nutrition products are well underneath any federal or international limits, and we are constantly testing to ensure that inorganic metals or contaminates are not affecting our products. Below is a more detailed explanation of Prop 65. Thank you for taking the time to look further, and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to email us.

California Prop 65 by the Letter

Proposition 65 is a California initiative to address concerns with human contact with toxic chemicals, originally dubbed “The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act” in 1986. The state of California updates the list annually, and it now consists of over 800 chemicals. The proposition requires all companies (with 10+ employees and selling to Californians) to warn consumers if its products contain more than the authorized limits of any of the listed chemicals.

Where does the law apply?

This law only applies to the state of California. Every other state complies with federal limits, and other countries abide by international World Health Organization limits.

Inorganic vs. Organic

The limits are used to govern the amount of non-naturally occurring, or INORGANIC, chemicals found in products. The inorganic form of these chemicals or heavy metals causes toxic harm and should be avoided. However, many of the chemicals on this list occur naturally in even the most organic foods and ingredients. As a plant grows in nature and pulls nutrients from the soil and water, it absorbs some of these heavy metals that exist naturally. Even those eating diets high in fresh organic vegetables can consume these metals at limits higher than California standards.

What are the limits?

California Prop 65 sets limits that are exponentially lower than any other system in the world. While we at 5 Star Nutrition appreciate a conservative approach, the problem is that setting the threshold this low automatically excludes whole classes of very healthy fruits and vegetables and healthy supplement products. Below is a comparison of Prop 65 limits for lead as compared to the rest of the world.

NSF International limit for lead (mcg/day, orally) 20 mcg California Proposition 65 cancer limit for lead 15 mcg/day World Health Organization lead limit 10 mcg/day United States lead limit for pharmaceuticals 3 mcg/day California Proposition 65 reproductive toxin limit for lead .5 mcg/day

What 5 Star Nutrition Products Require a Prop 65 Warning? Several 5 Star Nutrition products currently requiring a warning based upon exceeding the Prop 65 levels can be found here.

5 Star Nutrition’s Commitment to Quality

5 Star Nutrition is committed to providing products of impeccable quality and purity. We are going to be aggressively expanding our testing protocol to ensure that you are getting the best ingredients available.