Attention: California Residents

The purpose of this page is to provide confirmation to California residents that the Healthy Back Institute and LivingWell Nutraceuticals understands and acknowledges California’s Proposition 65 (Prop-65). We are committed to the safety of our customers as well as compliance with Prop-65. We have provided this FAQ page to help consumers understand Prop-65 and provide details of how we remain in compliance.

What is Proposition 65?
Prop-65 requires businesses to provide warnings to Californians about significant exposures to chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. These chemicals can be in the products that Californians purchase, in their homes or workplaces, or that are released into the environment. By requiring that this information be provided, Proposition 65 enables Californians to make informed decisions about their exposures to these chemicals.
Prop-65 also prohibits California businesses from knowingly discharging significant amounts of listed chemicals into sources of drinking water.
Prop-65 requires California to publish a list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm. This list, which must be updated at least once a year, has grown to include approximately 900 chemicals since it was first published in 1987.
Prop-65 became law in November 1986, when California voters approved it by a 63-37 percent margin. The official name of Prop-65 is the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.

What types of chemicals are on the Proposition 65 list?

The list contains a wide range of naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals that include additives or ingredients in pesticides, common household products, food, drugs, dyes, or solvents. Listed chemicals may also be used in manufacturing and construction, or they may be byproducts of chemical processes, such as motor vehicle exhaust.

Who administers Proposition 65?
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) administers the Prop-65 program. OEHHA, which is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), determines in many cases whether chemicals meet the scientific and legal requirements for placement on the Prop-65 list, and administers regulations that govern warnings and other aspects of Prop-65.

What does a warning mean?

If a warning is placed on a product label or posted or distributed at a workplace, a business, or in rental housing, the business issuing the warning is aware or believes that it is exposing individuals to one or more listed chemicals. By law, a warning must be given for listed chemicals unless the exposure is low enough to pose no significant risk of cancer or is significantly below levels observed to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.

Where can I get more information on Proposition 65?

If you have specific questions on the administration or implementation of Prop-65, you can contact OEHHA’s Prop-65 program at P65.Questions@oehha.ca.gov, or by phone at (916) 445-6900.

For enforcement information, contact the California Attorney General’s Office at (510) 622-2160, or visit http://ag.ca.gov/prop65/.

Who enforces Proposition 65?

The California Attorney General’s Office enforces Prop-65. Any district attorney or city attorney (for cities whose population exceeds 750,000) may also enforce Prop-65. In addition, any individual acting in the public interest may enforce Prop-65 by filing a lawsuit against a business alleged to be in violation of this law.

Lawsuits have been filed by the Attorney General’s Office, district attorneys, consumer advocacy groups, and private citizens and law firms.

How does the Healthy Back Institute and LivingWell Nutraceuticals manage Proposition 65 compliance?

The Healthy Back Institute and LivingWell Nutraceuticals adhere to very strict manufacturing and quality assurance processes, including all of the following:

• All of our manufacturers meet cGMP (Current Good Manufacturing Practices) standards in the states in which they operate.
• All of our manufacturers adhere to the FDA’s Rule 21 CFR 111 addressing the manufacturing and handling of dietary supplements for human use.
• We procure only top quality raw ingredients for use in our products.
• We perform random 3rd party testing on all of our supplements, using various method references including USP/NF, AOAC, EPA, and FDA-BAM to ensure for safety and quality standards are met.

All natural products, including all organic fruits and organic vegetables, have naturally occurring heavy metals in them. As a result, we can not claim our products to be 100% free of all heavy metals. Therefore, in order to comply with the most stringent exposure level and warning standards the Healthy Back Institute and LivingWell Nutraceuticals holds the following position in order to comply with California’s Prop-65:

Where and when appropriate, we will notify the California consumer in a clear and reasonable way at or before the point of sale if there are any chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm in any product which exceeds the Prop-65 mandated exposure limits for reporting.

We have sought counsel and performed diligent research on this matter. Nonetheless, we believe that Prop-65 is confusing and complicated to both the customer and businesses that operate outside of California but ship products into the state.

To reiterate, the Healthy Back Institute and LivingWell Nutraceuticals continues to work diligently to remain compliant with Prop-65. Additionally, we would never intentionally expose anyone to any listed chemical that was at or above the exposure threshold to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.

For more information on Prop-65, please review the information at this link:
https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/general-info/proposition-65-plain-language