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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 30, 2018 - 08:22am PT
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We sure don’t have a say in who rules us from the bench. Where do they get these crankloons?
Starbucks coffee in California must have cancer warning, judge says
By Nate Raymond
Starbucks Corp and other coffee sellers must put a cancer warning on coffee sold in California, a Los Angeles judge has ruled, possibly exposing the companies to millions of dollars in fines.
A little-known not-for-profit group sued some 90 coffee retailers, including Starbucks, on grounds they were violating a California law requiring companies to warn consumers of chemicals in their products that could cause cancer.
One of those chemicals is acrylamide, a byproduct of roasting coffee beans that is present in high levels in brewed coffee.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle said in a decision dated Wednesday that Starbucks and other companies had failed to show there was no significant risk from a carcinogen produced in the coffee roasting process, court documents showed.
Starbucks and other defendants have until April 10 to file objections to the decision.
Starbucks declined to comment, referring reporters to a statement by the National Coffee Association (NCA) that said the industry was considering an appeal and further legal actions.
"Cancer warning labels on coffee would be misleading. The U.S. government’s own Dietary Guidelines state that coffee can be part of a healthy lifestyle," the NCA statement said.
In his decision, Berle said: "Defendants failed to satisfy their burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that consumption of coffee confers a benefit to human health."
Officials from Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald's Corp, Peet's and other big coffee sellers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit was filed in 2010 by the Council for Education and Research on Toxics (CERT). It calls for fines as large as $2,500 per person for every exposure to the chemical since 2002 at the defendants’ shops in California. Any civil penalties, which will be decided in a third phase of the trial, could be huge in California, which has a population of nearly 40 million.
CERT's lawyer Raphael Metzger did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Starbucks lost the first phase of the trial in which it failed to show the level of acrylamide in coffee was below that which would pose a significant risk of cancer. In the second phase of the trial, defendants failed to prove there was an acceptable "alternative" risk level for the carcinogen, court documents showed.
Several defendants in the case settled before Wednesday's decision, agreeing to post signage about the cancer-linked chemical and pay millions in fines, according to published reports.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond; Additional reporting by Lisa Baertlein; Writing by Andrew Hay; Editing by Richard Chang and Leslie Adler)
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Mar 30, 2018 - 08:33am PT
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The lawsuit was filed in 2010 by the Council for Education and Research on Toxics (CERT). It calls for fines as large as $2,500 per person for every exposure to the chemical since 2002 at the defendants’ shops in California.
These buttholes are just trying to make a name for themselves and a pile of cash, and drive
up the cost of a cuppa. What is sad is that they found a judge to abet them.
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dirtbag
climber
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Mar 30, 2018 - 08:38am PT
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After an appeal, I doubt the ruling will stand. Still, the rank stupidity is duly noted.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Mar 30, 2018 - 09:31am PT
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Probably about another buck per cup? Dunno...just a guesstimate, really.
We'd all likely be less aggro w/o caffeine, anyway.
The USA is a republic, as the estimable gymnast John Gill said last page. And the way the Roman republic ran, very often differences were settled in the Forum with blood and riots. Or assassination.
I prefer the Congressional Theater and the Cabinet Comics Daily that now serves the same purpose. DT has been assassinated in print so much that he should be wearing a shroud in public.
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chipper_shredder
Social climber
outinthecuts
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Mar 30, 2018 - 09:35am PT
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I can't tell you exactly when it happened, at some point in Not too distant past
We stopped being citizens, and became consumers, In The eyes of the people in power.
So many warned of ramifications of....well you name it,
News consolidation
Climate change
Deforestation
Proliferation of plastics
Wall steeet gambling obsession & the 401k making you play along
Corrupt power hungry politicians
Lifestyles of the rich and famous & Americans obsession to become one
Future generations will look back on the last 40-50 years
And we will be forced to see how stupid and shortsighted we were
Blowing through vast resources for the bettterment of so few.
Is it not so clear ?
It is also not too late
Take back your citizenship & stand up for what YOU believe in.
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Mar 30, 2018 - 09:57am PT
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wilbeer
Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
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Mar 30, 2018 - 10:01am PT
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Not a Democracy at all,in fact a Corporate sponsored Anocracy and speeding toward it very fast.
Look at ,Health care,Trade,War and almost any domestic policy.
Corporations are entitled people.
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Fossil climber
Trad climber
Atlin, B. C.
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 30, 2018 - 10:44am PT
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Sort of sorry I posted this - I’ve just been getting more and more depressed, not seeing a way out of this. Watching too much news, I guess.
The only potential bright spot I see is the chance of Dems taking house and senate - not that the Dems are all that wonderful either. Might slow down the madman a little. But if that fails…
Maybe I should take your advice, Ricky - piss on it and walk away. Hard not to fight, though.
Thanks for good thoughts.
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wilbeer
Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
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Mar 30, 2018 - 11:03am PT
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Your apathy is shared and your honesty appreciated,wish I had better thoughts.
I do not.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Mar 30, 2018 - 11:44am PT
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But it's happened before. And the world has recovered. Which is maybe no comfort to the generations that live through the horror, but... I don't know, we -- us humans -- have survived some pretty horrific times in the past.
True. But when it happened before things like nuclear weapons didn't exist.
And previous civilizations have come and gone. But this time, the entire world is interconnected. Once upon a time, empires in China could come and go with no effect on what was happening in the Mediterranean.
Those days are gone.
If China and India had a full scaled war today, or even India and Pakistan... I'm not sure world civilization would survive. If you thought the 2008 financial crisis was bad, image the financial crisis a full scale war would create. Let alone if someone decided to start using tactical nuclear weapons.
It's hard to see how any democracy is going to function in the age of echo chamber and fake news.
Technology is fundamentally changing political society. The ability of AI to track everything that every individual does is no longer science fiction. Some combination of Brave New World and an Orwellian 1984 is very possible. China is creating AI to give everyone a "social score". Go to a protests or send the wrong text message and you won't be able to get a mortgage for your house or send your kid to a good school.
Must be time to go climbing...
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Yury
Mountain climber
T.O.
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Mar 30, 2018 - 12:44pm PT
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Fossil climber:
The only potential bright spot I see is the chance of Dems taking house and senate ... It's nice to be young and naïve and believe in fairy tales.
However if we look at numbers (and numbers on http://peterturchin.com/ and elsewhere show the same patterns) we would notice that disparity between rich and poor/middle class (that is a root cause of the current social unrest) was growing since 1978 regardless who was in power.
So believing that Democrats would suddenly stop doing what they were doing for the last fifty years and would suddenly start caring about people is a wishful thinking.
Both Republicans and Democrats should be on the same board to stop this insanity and this would happen only when US is on the brink of a revolution.
The current situation is not that bad (e.g. your believeth that Democrats can fix this is just one more proof) and we need to wait for further deterioration of a social peace until both party start to cooperate and care about people.
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Craig Fry
Trad climber
So Cal.
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Mar 30, 2018 - 01:38pm PT
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40 Years of Reaganomitics that has decimated the middle class, the Republican lying media, Republican/anti-democratic polices and allowing the rich to buy Republicans have directly led to our predicament.
The Republicans have done everything in their power to fix the vote by gerrymandering, voter suppression, voter crosscheck and other election fraud antics to keep them in power even when the people that vote for them are not the majority
We have an Authoritarian President Now, and he is gutting our Democracy and turning into a Autocracy with Billionaire rule.
Though it's really has been billionaire rule ever since Reagan, they are the one pulling the strings behind the Republican scene, they are the true illuminati
Voting for any Republicans will just speed up the race to the bottom, our only chance is for the Democrats to have a filibuster majority and then tell the fascist Republicans to shut up and sit down, they lost.
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WBraun
climber
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Mar 30, 2018 - 05:25pm PT
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Let alone if someone decided to start using tactical nuclear weapons.
Tactical nuclear weapons have been used for years now.
No wonder Americans are so clueless, their sorry azz corrupt and st00pid mainstream media reports nothing ever except st000pid brainwashing worthless sh!t .....
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Mar 30, 2018 - 09:04pm PT
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Ah, love your friends and yer dog. Go for a walk. Go climbing! I did today with some good friends, met a cool local, led some--for me--hard climbs. My groovy, groovy hound was mad chillin' at the base. Life is good.
Sorry for this unwanted note of optimism.
BAd
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Gimp
Trad climber
Missoula, MT & "Pourland", OR
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Mar 31, 2018 - 08:49am PT
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I think Tami is correct in describing the government as feudal.
If you think the general populace is thought of as anything other than serfs by "leadership" and the "elites", as they have taken to calling themselves, I think you are sadly mistaken.
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TomCochrane
Trad climber
Cascade Mountains and Monterey Bay
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Mar 31, 2018 - 11:30am PT
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people seem unwilling or unable to see that our 'elite leaders' are really the biggest criminals who have fought their way up in their evil cartels
these 'elite' are willing to mercilessly sacrifice any or all of us to enhance and protect their power positions
until people wake up and take responsibility for these facts, there is not much hope for positive futures
spiritual enlightenment trumps any amount of material wealth and power
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Trump
climber
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Mar 31, 2018 - 12:27pm PT
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What are we? We’re 4 billion years in the making!
Those who don’t study history are condemned to repeat it. And you can believe that we’ll repeat history again this time, just like all of the other times, because there’s nothing new under the sun.
We sure have learned some interesting ways of believing!
Yea I’ve been trying to dig my way out of that one too fossil. I think the easiest way to do it, if you can manage it, is to just believe some stuff that’s not true. 4 billion years of practice isn’t a bad start.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Mar 31, 2018 - 12:33pm PT
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Fossil climber:
The only potential bright spot I see is the chance of Dems taking house and senate ...
Yury:
It's nice to be young and naïve and believe in fairy tales.
However if we look at numbers (and numbers on http://peterturchin.com/ and elsewhere show the same patterns) we would notice that disparity between rich and poor/middle class (that is a root cause of the current social unrest) was growing since 1978 regardless who was in power.
So believing that Democrats would suddenly stop doing what they were doing for the last fifty years and would suddenly start caring about people is a wishful thinking.
Both Republicans and Democrats should be on the same board to stop this insanity and this would happen only when US is on the brink of a revolution.
The current situation is not that bad (e.g. your believeth that Democrats can fix this is just one more proof) and we need to wait for further deterioration of a social peace until both party start to cooperate and care about people.
Look, thinking that if the Dems take control that that is a bright spot isn't the same as thinking the Dems will deliver us to paradise.
Yes, inequality has generally been increasing for decades under both R's and Dems, and Tories, and Labor, and Christian Democrats, and...
But, for instance, who pushed through legislation that mostly taxed the rich to provide health care for the poor? Who gave a trillion dollar tax cut that went mostly to the top 1% when they had control?
Just because the Dems are bad does not mean that the R's aren't much, much worse.
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DanaB
climber
CO
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Mar 31, 2018 - 02:16pm PT
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But it's happened before. And the world has recovered.
That's very comforting to the countless millions that have been killed and oppressed.
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Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
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Mar 31, 2018 - 04:06pm PT
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Looking at the current political situation, the irreparable harm being to the environment (at least for purposes of our lifetime), the gradual undermining if not outright attack on our democratic institutions (efforts to undermine an independent judiciary, attacks on a free press, etc.), it's hard not to despair. However, the problem isn't just with Washington. The blame lies in large part with an ignorant, entitled populous who are either too stupid or too lazy to educate themselves about the issues and think critically about their choices. A Democratic majority Congress is one short term fix but, unless people wake up and think their choices are broader than guns vs. gun control or no abortions vs. reproductive rights, we're going to be stuck in a similar cycle for the foreseeable future.
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