Business

Lawsuit: Dangerous Arsenic Levels Found in California Wine

Published

9 years ago

March 21, 2015

File - In this May 20, 2009 file photo a glass of white wine is swirled during a tasting in Oakville, Calif. More than two dozen California vintners are facing a lawsuit claiming their wines contain dangerously high levels of arsenic. The industry group Wine Institute dismissed the allegations as "false and misleading." (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

In this May 20, 2009 file photo a glass of white wine is swirled during a tasting in Oakville, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

John Rogers, ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dozens of bottles of low-priced California wines sold under such labels as Franzia, Mogen David and Almaden contain dangerously high levels of arsenic, according to a lawsuit filed by four California residents.

The industry group Wine Institute dismissed the lawsuit as “irresponsible,” adding it has not called for any vintner to pull any of the wines named in the complaint from store shelves.

The complaint, which seeks class-action status, was filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court. It lists as defendants 28 California wineries. It also asks for unspecified damages and a halt to production of arsenic-tainted wine.

“We believe this allegation is false and misleading and that all wines being sold in the U.S. marketplace are safe,” the institute, which represents more than 1,000 California vintners and related businesses, said in a statement.

Institute spokeswoman Gladys Horiuchi said Friday that although the United States doesn’t have specific arsenic levels for wine, many other countries do. She added that California vintages have never come close to exceeding those levels.

According to the lawsuit, tests by three independent laboratories found that in some cases arsenic levels were 500 percent higher than what’s considered safe. Horiuchi said those comparisons were based on levels considered safe for drinking water, not wine.

The lawsuit’s lead attorney, Brian Kabateck, said the levels were originally found in tests done by the head of the Denver-based lab BeverageGrades.

“He decided to test 1,306 bottles of wine representing more than 75 percent of the wine consumed in the U.S.” Kabateck said Friday. “Out of those he found 83 that had excessive arsenic levels.”

The attorney added that subsequent cross-testing at two other labs confirmed the findings.

Arsenic occurs naturally in the air, soil and water in small amounts, as well as in wine and other beverages. In larger amounts, it can be deadly.

Kabateck said tests showed the arsenic found was “inorganic” or not naturally occurring. He said it might have been introduced in the vinting process. He noted nearly all of the affected wines sell for between $5 and $10 a bottle.

“Out of 1,306 tests only 83 came back,” he said. “We know that the vast majority of the wine business is safe. If you’re spending $20 on a bottle of wine you’re not going to have concerns most likely.”
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

16 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Business

V.P. Kamala Harris: Americans With Criminal Records Will Soon Be Eligible for SBA Loans

Speaking in Las Vegas on Jan. 27, Vice President Kamala Harris announced a forthcoming federal rule that will extend access to Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to Americans who have been convicted of felonies but have served their time. Small business owners typically apply for the SBA loans to start or sustain their businesses.

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

On her daylong trip, Harris was joined by Horford, SBA Administrator Isabella Guzman, Interim Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Eric Morrissette, and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev).

By California Black Media

Small business owners typically apply for the SBA loans to start or sustain their businesses.

Harris thanked U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV-04), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, for the work he has done in Washington to support small businesses and to invest in people.

“He and I spent some time this afternoon with business leaders and small business leaders here in Nevada. The work you have been doing to invest in community and to invest in the ambition and natural capacity of communities has been exceptional,” Harris said, speaking to a crowd of a few hundred people at the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Hall in East Las Vegas.

“Formerly incarcerated individuals face significant barriers to economic opportunity once they leave prison and return to the community, with an unemployment rate among the population of more than 27%,” the White House press release continued. “Today’s announcement builds on the Vice President’s work to increase access to capital. Research finds that entrepreneurship can reduce recidivism for unemployed formerly incarcerated individuals by as much as 30%.”

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G.O.P. Lawmakers: Repeal AB 5 and Resist Nationalization of “Disastrous” Contractor Law

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

File Photo: Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City)

By California Black Media

Republican lawmakers gathered outside of the Employee Development Department in Sacramento on Jan. 23 to call for the repeal of AB5, the five-year old California law that reclassified gig workers and other independent contractors as W-2 employees under the state’s labor code.
Organizers said they also held the rally to push back against current efforts in Washington to pass a similar federal law.

“We are here to talk about this very important issue – a battle we have fought for many years – to stop this disastrous AB 5 policy,” said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City).
Now, that threat has gone national as we have seen this new rule being pushed out of the Biden administration,” Gallagher continued.

On Jan. 10, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a new rule providing guidance on “on how to analyze who is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).”
“This final rule rescinds the Independent Contractor Status Under the Fair Labor Standards Act rule (2021 IC Rule), that was published on January 7, 2021, and replaces it with an analysis for determining employee or independent contractor status that is more consistent with the FLSA as interpreted by longstanding judicial precedent,” a Department of Labor statement reads.
U.S. Congressmember Kevin Kiley (R-CA-3), who is a former California Assemblymember, spoke at the rally.

“We are here today to warn against the nationalization of one of the worst laws that has ever been passed in California, which has devastated the livelihoods of folks in over 600 professions,” said Kiley, adding that the law has led to a 10.5% decline in self-employment in California.

Kiley blamed U.S Acting Secretary of Labor, July Su, who was the former secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, for leading the effort to redefine “contract workers” at the federal level.
Kiley said two separate lawsuits have been filed against Su’s Rule – its constitutionality and the way it was enacted, respectively. He said he is also working on legislation in Congress that puts restrictions on the creation and implementation of executive branch decisions like Su’s.
Assemblymember Kate Sanchez (R-Rancho Santa Margarita) announced that she plans to introduce legislation to repeal AB 5 during the current legislative session.

“So many working moms like myself, who are also raising kids, managing households, were devastated by the effects of AB 5 because they lost access to hundreds of flexible professions,” Sanchez continued. “I’ve been told by many of these women that they have lost their livelihoods as bookkeepers, artists, family caregivers, designers, and hairstylists because of this destructive law.”