Cricketscoffee Blog

 Yet one more warning label.   Coffee sales leader Starbucks and several  other coffee sellers are fighting a lawsuit that alleges roasted coffee beans contain low levels of a carcinogen — and therefore coffee products sold in California, from lattes to packaged beans, should carry Surgeon General-like warnings.    A  public interest group, the Council for Education and Research on Toxics, or CERT, sued roughly over 50 companies, claiming the state’s Proposition 65, which requires warning labels on anything that contains materials that cause cancer, should apply to coffee.    CERT lawyer Raphael Metzger argued in court this week that the benefits of coffee are “just a bunch of hypotheses” and that Californians have been exposed to “really high levels of a carcinogen” by drinking coffee, according to Law360.    

  A proposed U.K. bill, expected to be released later this week, includes a "blanket ban" on legal highs, and the current legislation is written in a way to make the ban so broad that alcohol, cigarettes, and COFFEE are included unless specific exemptions are issued.   Queen Elizabeth announced the legislation on 5/26/2015, and the bill would ban "any substance intended for human consumption that is capable of producing a psychoactive effect."   The new law would carry a maximum of up to seven-years in prison. The Guardian reports . The bill would first ban all psychoactive substances and then list which if any substances will be government-permitted.  Poland has a similar law, but the law says that substances must produce a "significant" effect, so caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco are not banned.   The U.K. law is designed to prohibit chemically engi...

  Yet one more law suit over spilled hot coffee. Matthew Kohr a Raleigh North Carolina police officer received a "free" cup of coffee at the Starbucks on Peace Street in January 2012, only to have the lid popped off and the cup folded in on itself, according to the lawsuit.    Kohr said he poured cold water on the burn, but the pain only intensified. Kohr claims his injuries aggravated his Crohn's disease, and resulted in surgery to remove a portion of his intestine.   The incident, according to the lawsuit, also caused Kohr's wife, Melanie, the loss of a "source of emotional support, her social companion and her intimate partner." Kohr is seeking compensation, including damages, attorney fees and medical costs, totaling more than $10,000. The coffee maker also mentioned that the coffee was given to Kohr free of charge and that the officer "was negligent in his use of the product."