Settlement Date:
10/26/2026
Case Name:
Environmental Research Center, Inc. vs. Soulful Nutrition
Court Name:
Alameda County Superior Court - Hayward
Plaintiff:
Environmental Research Center, Inc.
Plaintiff Attorney:
Environmental Research Center
Defendant:
Soulful Nutrition, Inc., individually and dba Remedy Organics
Injunctive Relief:
Beginning 45 days after the Effective Date (“Compliance Date”), Remedy shall
be permanently enjoined from manufacturing for sale in the State of California, “Distributing
into the State of California,” or directly selling in the State of California, a Covered Product
that exposes a person to a quantifiable level of PFOA that can be reliably achieved using
industry standard methods for testing in the Covered Products, unless such Covered Product
meets the warning requirements under Section 3.2.
*Non-Contingent Civil Penalty:
$ 97,150.00
Attorney(s) Fees and Costs:
$ 80,033.00
Payment in Lieu of Penalty:
$ 72,817.00 (Amounts rounded. Actual amounts: $97,150.00 Civil Penalty, $80,032.97 Attorney Fees and Costs, and $72,817.03 ASP. $72,817.03 shall be distributed to ERC as an Additional Settlement Payment
(“ASP”), which shall be subject to the Court’s ongoing judicial oversight pursuant to
California Code of Regulations, title 11, section 3204. ERC will utilize the ASP for activities
that address the same public harm as allegedly caused by Defendants in this matter. These
activities are detailed below and support ERC’s overarching goal of reducing and/or
eliminating hazardous and toxic chemicals in dietary supplement products in California. ERC’s
activities have had, and will continue to have, a direct and primary effect within the State of
California because California consumers will be benefitted by the reduction and/or elimination
of exposure to lead and/or cadmium in dietary supplements and/or by providing clear and
reasonable warnings to California consumers prior to ingestion of the products. Based on a review of past years’ actual budgets, ERC is providing the following list of
activities ERC engages in to protect California consumers through Proposition 65 citizen
enforcement, along with a breakdown of how ASP funds will be utilized to facilitate those
activities: (1) ENFORCEMENT (up to 65-80%): obtaining, shipping, analyzing, and testing
dietary supplement products that may contain lead and/or cadmium and are sold to California
consumers. This work includes continued monitoring and enforcement of past consent
judgments and settlements to ensure companies are in compliance with their obligations
thereunder, with a specific focus on those judgments and settlements concerning lead and/or
cadmium. This work also includes investigation of new companies that ERC does not obtain
any recovery through settlement or judgment; (2) VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE PROGRAM (up to 10-20%): maintaining ERC’s Voluntary Compliance Program by acquiring products
from companies, developing and maintaining a case file, testing products from these
companies, providing the test results and supporting documentation to the companies, and
offering guidance in warning or implementing a self-testing program for lead and/or cadmium
in dietary supplement products; and (3) “GOT LEAD” PROGRAM (up to 5%): maintaining
ERC’s “Got Lead?” Program which reduces the numbers of contaminated products that reach
California consumers by providing access to free testing for lead in dietary supplement
products (Products submitted to the program are screened for ingredients which are suspected
to be contaminated, and then may be purchased by ERC, catalogued, sent to a qualified
laboratory for testing, and the results shared with the consumer that submitted the product).
ERC shall be fully accountable in that it will maintain adequate records to document
and will be able to demonstrate how the ASP funds will be spent and can assure that the funds
are being spent only for the proper, designated purposes described in this Consent Judgment.
ERC shall provide the Attorney General, within thirty days of any request, copies of
documentation demonstrating how such funds have been spent.)
Total Payments:
$ 250,000.00
Will settlement be submitted to court?
Contact Organization:
Environmental Research Center
Address:
3111 Camino Del Rio North, Ste 400
City, State, Zip:
San Diego, CA 92108
Phone Number:
(619) 500-3090
