The Proposition 65 case, filed two years ago by the Environmental Law Foundation, is in day two of a court trial.
Beach-Nut Nutrition Corp., Dole Packaged Frozen Foods, Inc. and Gerber Products Company are among the defendants that have been accused of violating California law, which requires that businesses warn consumers before exposing them to chemicals that cause birth defects or cancer.
Counsel for the defendants has argued trace levels of lead found in the food is naturally occurring, The Associated Press reported, which could exempt them from the warning label requirements.
"FDA recently reiterated its conclusion that the trace levels of lead in the products at issue in this case do not pose unacceptable health risks," the companies' lawyer, Michele Corash, reportedly stated in court documents.
An expert witness on Monday backed up that statement. Barbara Petersen, a food safety scientist, testified that average lead levels in baby foods fall below the threshold for warning labels that are required under the law, the AP reported in a separate article.
But in its 2011 lawsuit, the Environmental Law Foundation declared, "There is no safe level of lead for children. Moreover, infants and fetuses are at the greatest risk of harmful effects from lead exposure."
Roughly 500,000 kids between the ages of 1 and 5 are living with unacceptable levels of lead, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Exposure to lead is frequently unrecognized because there are no obvious symptoms, CDC has said.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction and civil penalties. Prop 65, more formally known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, provides for penalties of up to $2,500 per day.
The trial before Judge Steven Brick of the Alameda County Superior Court is expected to last three to four weeks, according to CNN.
The food implicated in the lawsuit includes grape juice, packaged peaches, packaged pears, fruit cocktail and baby foods that include carrots, pears, peaches and sweet potatoes.
