Judgment Date:
08/13/2026
Settlement reported to AG:
Case Name:
Environmental Research Center vs. Heart & Soil Supplements
Court Name:
Alameda County Superior Court
Plaintiff:
Environmental Research Center, Inc.
Plaintiff Attorney:
Environmental Research Center
Defendant:
Heart & Soil Supplements LLC
Injunctive Relief:
Beginning on the Compliance Date, Heart & Soil Supplements 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 product that exposes a person to a quantifiable level of PFOS
and PFNA that can be reliably achieved using industry standard methods for
testing, unless the product meets the warning requirements under Section
3.2.
*Non-Contingent Civil Penalty:
$ 16,750.00
Attorney(s) Fees and Costs:
$ 25,912.00
Payment in Lieu of Penalty:
$ 12,338.00 (Amounts rounded; Actual amounts: $16,750.00 Civil Penalty;
$25,912.21 Attorney fees and costs; $12,337.79 ASP 4.4 $12,337.79 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 Defendant in this matter.
These activities are de-tailed 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 PFOS and PFNA 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 PFOS and PFNA 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 PFOS and PFNA. 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 sup-porting documentation to the
companies, and offering guidance in warning or implementing a self-testing
program for PFOS and PFNA 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:
$ 55,000.00
Is Judgment Pursuant to Settlement?
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
