California regulators rule coffee isn’t a cancer risk

Getty Images

California coffee shops won’t need to add cancer warnings after state regulators ruled Tuesday coffee doesn’t contain a dangerous amount of hazardous chemicals. 

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the deciding agency for California, concluded that exposure to known chemicals created during roasting or brewing coffee “do not pose a significant risk of cancer,” according to court documents

{mosads}The ruling exempts coffee to be listed with cancer warnings and will go into effect Oct. 1, according to Axios. 

The decision follows a state judge ruling last March that Starbucks and other coffee sellers would need to provide the warning, following a lawsuit that began in 2010. 

The chemical at issue was acrylamide, a chemical produced while roasting coffee beans and classified as a weak carcinogen. 

However, since last year’s ruling the World Health Organization reviewed 1,000 studies and found no evidence coffee causes cancer, ABC News reported. In fact, the organization’s review found coffee also reduced the risk of some types of cancer. 

Based on the World Health Organization report, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment concluded there was no significant risk from coffee, according to ABC News. 

Updated June 5, 5:31 p.m.

Tags California Carcinogen Coffee Starbucks

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.