In a decision that state officials called "devastating" for public health, a Superior Court judge has ruled that tuna companies don't have to warn consumers about the mercury in canned fish under Proposition 65, California's law requiring companies to warn consumers of products containing hazardous ingredients.
The tuna case -- involving a product that is consumed in large quantities by millions of people -- is considered one of the most important in the 20 years since California voters overwhelmingly adopted the environmental initiative. The law requires companies to warn consumers about products that contain chemicals that cause reproductive harm or cancer.
State Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer sued tuna companies Starkist, Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee in 2004, seeking to force warnings on store shelves or can labels.
But after a two-month trial, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Robert L. Dondero filed a ruling late Thursday that sided with the tuna canners on all issues -- that the state law is preempted by a federal Food and Drug Administration advisory, that mercury levels are not high enough to warrant health warnings, and that tuna is exempt because mercury in fish is naturally occurring.
The attorney general's office is evaluating whether to appeal the ruling. If it is upheld by an appellate court, it would set a precedent for other Proposition 65 cases.
Tuna companies said the decision confirms that their products are "healthy and safe."
"Consumers are really the winners in this case," said Forrest Hainline, a San Francisco attorney with the law firm Goodwin Procter, who represented the tuna canners. "The judge has made a common-sense ruling based on nutrition and science."
But Lockyer's office said that consumers, particularly pregnant women and young children, will be at greater risk from mercury. Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar called the ruling "wrong on the law, wrong on the science and bad for the women and children of California."
"It's a devastating decision, particularly for poor women," added Deputy Atty. Gen. Susan Fiering. "The people who will be most hurt are women who don't know about the FDA advisory on the Internet and don't have access to good medical care so they won't know about the danger of mercury in this fish."
