Judgment Date:
05/20/2022
Settlement reported to AG:
Case Name:
Consumer Advocacy Group, Inc. v. Tawa Supermarket, Inc.
Court Name:
Los Angeles County Superior Court
Plaintiff:
Consumer Advocacy Group, Inc
Defendant:
KIM SENG COMPANY DBA IHA BEVERAGE
Injunctive Relief:
After the Effective Date, Defendant shall not sell in California, offer for sale in
California, or ship for sale in California any Dried Cinnamon Powder or Ground Cinnamon
Powder unless the level of Lead does not exceed 200 parts per billion (“ppb”) the level of
Cadmium does not exceed 85 ppb, and the level of Arsenic does not exceed 20 ppb. After the
Effective Date, Defendant shall not sell in California, offer for sale in California, or ship for sale
in California any Broken Rice unless the level of Lead does not exceed 56 ppb.
For any Covered Products that will be offered by Defendant for sale in California
exceeding the levels specified in section 3.1, after the Effective Date Defendant shall place a
Proposition 65 compliant warning on these products as set forth below. Any warning provided
pursuant to this section shall be affixed to the packaging of, or directly on, the Covered Products,
and be prominently placed with such conspicuousness as compared with other words, statements,
designs, or devices as to render it likely to be read and understood by an ordinary individual under customary conditions before purchase or use. The warning must be set off from other
surrounding information, enclosed in a box. Where the packaging of the Covered Product
includes consumer information as defined by California Code of Regulations title 27 §25600.1(c)
in a language other than English, the warning must also be provided in that language in addition
to English. The Parties agree that current law permits the long form or short form warning to be
used for food products. Where a short form warning is used, the entire warning must be in a type
size no smaller than the largest type size used for other consumer information on the product. In
no case shall the warning appear in a type size smaller than 6-point type. The Parties also agree
that current law does not require the use of the “/food” on short-form warnings URL, but that
such is recommended under a proposed regulation of OEHHA still in the regulatory process.
Should the proposed regulation be adopted, Defendant agrees to follow any compliance period
specified by the California Code of Regulations for parties to redesign their labels to comply
with the new law.
For any Covered Products still existing in the Defendant's inventory as of the
Effective Date, Defendant shall place a Proposition 65 compliant warning on them, unless the
Covered Products does not exceed their respective levels of Lead, Arsenic, or Cadmium. Any
warning provided pursuant to this section shall comply with the warning requirements under
Section 3.2 above.
The Parties have agreed that an essential term of this settlement is that the
injunctive relief agreed to herein is a full and complete recitation of this settlement term, as
enumerated above, and acceptable to both Parties such that warnings may be provided without
product reformulation when the Covered Products contain levels of Lead, Arsenic, and/or
Cadmium in exceedance of levels enumerated in section 3.1.
*Non-Contingent Civil Penalty:
$ 24,200.00
Attorney(s) Fees and Costs:
$ 141,750.00
Payment in Lieu of Penalty:
$ 18,050.00 (Pursuant to Health & Safety Code §
25249.7(b) and California Code of Regulations, Title 11 § 3203(d), Defendant shall make a
separate payment, in the amount of Eighteen Thousand and Fifty dollars ($18,050.00) as an
additional settlement payment to “Consumer Advocacy Group, Inc.” Defendant will issue a
separate check to CAG for the Additional Settlement Payment. CAG will use this portion of the
Total Settlement Payment as follows, eighty five percent (85%) for fees of investigation,
purchasing and testing for Proposition 65 listed chemicals in various products, and for expert
fees for evaluating exposures through various mediums, including but not limited to consumer
product, occupational, and environmental exposures to Proposition 65 listed chemicals, and the
cost of hiring consulting and retaining experts who assist with the extensive scientific analysis
necessary for those files in litigation and to offset the costs of future litigation enforcing
Proposition 65 but excluding attorney fees; fifteen percent (15%) for administrative costs
incurred during investigation and litigation to reduce the public’s exposure to Proposition 65
listed chemicals by notifying those persons and/or entities believed to be responsible for such exposures and attempting to persuade those persons and/or entities to reformulate their products
or the source of exposure to completely eliminate or lower the level of Proposition 65 listed
chemicals including but not limited to costs of documentation and tracking of products
investigated, storage of products, website enhancement and maintenance, computer and software
maintenance, investigative equipment, CAG’s member’s time for work done on investigations,
office supplies, mailing supplies and postage. Within 30 days of a request from the Attorney
General, CAG shall provide to the Attorney General copies of documentation demonstrating how
the above funds have been spent. CAG shall be solely responsible for ensuring the proper
expenditure of such additional settlement payment.)
Total Payments:
$ 184,000.00
Is Judgment Pursuant to Settlement?
Contact Organization:
Yeroushalmi & Yeroushalmi Law Firm
City, State, Zip:
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Phone Number:
(310) 623-1926
