The Truth About Prop 65 (LEAD In Your Food)

At Bethany's Pantry, we believe in complete transparency about our products and processes. You may have noticed Proposition 65 warnings on our website or products, and we want to take this opportunity to explain what these warnings mean and, more importantly, what they don't mean about our products' safety.

Summary: Proposition 65 warnings are required by California law and appear on many products regardless of actual risk level. These warnings don't necessarily indicate that a product is unsafe.

What is Proposition 65?

Proposition 65, officially known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, is a California law that requires businesses to provide warnings when their products might expose California consumers to certain chemicals. The list currently includes more than 900 chemicals that the state has determined may cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm¹.

While the intent behind Proposition 65 is commendable—informing consumers about potential chemical exposures—it's important to understand that these warnings don't necessarily mean a product is unsafe or in violation of any safety standards.

Why Proposition 65 Warnings Can Be Confusing

There are several reasons why Proposition 65 warnings can sometimes cause unnecessary concern:

1. Extremely Low Thresholds: Proposition 65 requires warnings at exposure levels that are often significantly lower than levels deemed safe by federal regulatory agencies, including the FDA and EPA. For businesses without conclusive testing data, providing a warning is often the safest approach legally².
2. No Distinction Between Risk Levels: The same warning is required whether a product contains trace amounts of a listed chemical or significant amounts that pose a genuine health risk. This can create confusion for consumers who may not understand the actual risk level³.
3. Naturally Occurring Elements: Many Proposition 65-listed chemicals occur naturally in the environment, including in soil where plants grow. The FDA acknowledges that heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and arsenic can be present in foods because they exist naturally in the soil, water, or air where foods are grown⁴.
4. Ubiquitous Warnings: Because the penalties for not providing a warning can be severe (up to $2,500 per day per violation), many companies include warnings even when the actual risk is negligible or non-existent⁵.

Summary: Proposition 65 warnings use extremely conservative thresholds that are often far stricter than federal safety standards. The same warning is required for both minimal and significant exposures, and many naturally occurring substances in soil require warnings despite being present in everyday foods.

Our Products and Quality Assurance Program

At Bethany's Pantry, we take product safety extremely seriously. Our products undergo rigorous testing to ensure they meet the highest quality and safety standards:

Comprehensive Testing Protocol

All our products undergo extensive testing for potential contaminants, including heavy metals. Recent test results demonstrate our commitment to safety:

• Lead: Our products contain minimal trace amounts, well below safety thresholds. Recent tests show levels between 0.013-0.062 ppm (mg/kg), which is significantly below concerning levels. The FDA actively monitors lead levels in foods and is continuously working to reduce exposure limits⁶.
• Cadmium: Similarly, our tests show minimal levels between 0.01-0.034 ppm (mg/kg), which falls well below the FDA's toxicological reference value range of 0.21-0.36 micrograms per kilogram body weight per day⁷.
• Mercury: All our products test at extremely low levels of 0.001-0.005 ppm (mg/kg).
• Arsenic: Our products show minimal detectable levels, all well within safety guidelines.

Summary: Our products are regularly tested for heavy metals like lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic. The results consistently show levels far below regulatory safety thresholds, confirming our commitment to providing safe, high-quality products.

These results demonstrate that while trace amounts may be detected using highly sensitive testing equipment, the levels are far below what would be considered a health concern by regulatory bodies.

Our Quality Commitments

Beyond testing for heavy metals, our products are:

• Non-GMO Project Verified: All our Digestive Support Protein products have received official Non-GMO Project verification, valid through November 2025.
• Vegan and Free From Artificial Ingredients: We follow stringent processes to ensure our products contain no animal ingredients or by-products and are free from artificial colors, flavors, and fillers.
• Allergen-Free: Our products are manufactured to be free from common allergens including gluten, dairy, and soy, with test results confirming levels below detection thresholds.

Why We Include Proposition 65 Warnings

We include Proposition 65 warnings out of an abundance of caution and to comply with California's regulations. This doesn't mean our products contain harmful levels of listed chemicals—rather, it reflects the extremely conservative nature of Proposition 65's thresholds and our commitment to regulatory compliance.

It's worth noting that many foods you consume daily would require Proposition 65 warnings if tested, including:

• Many fruits and vegetables grown in natural soil
• Coffee
• Fish and seafood
• Nuts and seeds

The FDA acknowledges that metals "occur naturally and as environmental pollutants in air, water and soil and they enter the food supply when plants take them up as they grow"⁸. Research has shown that lead and arsenic are commonly detected in various food samples, with arsenic even appearing in 39% of fruit samples in certain studies⁹.

Our Commitment to Transparency

At Bethany's Pantry, we believe our customers deserve to know exactly what they're consuming. That's why:

1. We make our Certificates of Analysis available.
2. We're transparent about our ingredients and manufacturing processes.
3. We work with leading manufacturing facilities that maintain stringent quality control standards.

Our products are specifically formulated to support healthy digestion, and every ingredient is carefully selected with your wellbeing in mind.

In Conclusion

We understand that seeing a Proposition 65 warning might raise questions, and we hope this explanation helps clarify why these warnings appear on our products. The presence of a Proposition 65 warning doesn't mean our products are unsafe—we stand behind the quality and safety of everything we create.

Summary: Proposition 65 warnings are about compliance with California law, not product safety. Our products undergo rigorous testing to ensure they meet the highest quality standards, and we stand firmly behind their safety.

If you have any questions about our products or testing procedures, please don't hesitate to reach out. Your health and confidence in our products are our top priorities.

This information is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your doctor or healthcare provider.