California Proposition 65 is a unique regulation that brings separate compliance requirements from all other regulations in the US (or abroad) and is enforced through civil litigation (via issuance of a Notice of Violation, or “NOV”). A single violation can cost a company upwards of $50,000 or more. At the beginning of each month, we take a quick look at an enforcement summary for the previous month to highlight the types of products being targeted, how frequently, and any new trends in enforcement action that may have appeared.
Hopefully these posts will raise a flag for any company selling these types of products into California so they can take a careful look at their products and get ahead of any potential enforcement!
Enforcement Summary for March (2026):
– Enforcement increased vs. February, with heavy metals still driving most notices, primarily across a wide range of food products (501 vs. 444) – even cinnamon buns aren’t safe from enforcement!
– Cosmetics/personal care became a bigger story this month, with a big uptick in diethanolamine-related notices (up to 39 NOV).
– Thermal receipt paper-related NOVs are mostly just enforcers “tidying up” (only 2 new).
All of these NOVs can lead to costly enforcement, remediation, and reputational risk. If your products touch these categories, now is a good time to review supplier documentation, testing strategy, and warning approach. Contact us today to learn how we help companies avoid enforcement!
