Judgment Date:
07/11/2024
Settlement reported to AG:
Case Name:
Environmental Research Center, Inc. vs. USANA Health Science
Court Name:
Alameda County Superior Court - Hayward
Plaintiff:
Environmental Research Center, Inc.
Defendant:
USANA Health Sciences, Inc., individually and dba Rise Bar
Rise Wellness, Inc.
Injunctive Relief:
3.1 Beginning on the Compliance Date, Rise Wellness, Inc. 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, any Covered Product
that exposes a person to a “Daily Lead Exposure Level” of more than 0.5
micrograms of lead per day and/or “Daily Cadmium Exposure Level” of more than
4.1 micrograms of cadmium per day unless it meets the warning requirements under
Section 3.2. The requirements of Sections 3.1 and 3.2 do not apply to Covered
Products that “enter the stream of commerce” prior to the Compliance Date. For
purposes of this Consent Judgment, the term “enter the stream of commerce” means
that manufactured Covered Products have been put into final packaging for
consumer sale and are no longer in the possession of or under the control of Rise
Wellness, Inc.
*Non-Contingent Civil Penalty:
$ 52,700.00
Attorney(s) Fees and Costs:
$ 47,853.00
Payment in Lieu of Penalty:
$ 39,447.00 (Amounts rounded. Actual amounts: $52,000.00 Civil Penalty;
$47,852.85 Attorneys fees and costs; and $39,447.15 ASP 4.4 $39,447.15 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:
$ 140,000.00
Is Judgment Pursuant to Settlement?
City, State, Zip:
Oakland, CA 94611
Phone Number:
(917) 371-8293
