SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) β California canβt require a cancer warning label on Roundup, the worldβs most widely used weed-killer, a federal judge ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge William Shubb issued a permanent injunction against the labeling, saying the state couldnβt meet a legal standard for such a requirement, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
California requires warning labels on cancer-causing products under the stateβs Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, approved by voters in 1986.
The state wanted to label products containing glyphosate β the main ingredient in Monsantoβs Roundup β because of a 2015 finding by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization, that glyphosate was a probable cause of cancer in humans.
But Monsanto sued and in 2018 Shubb temporarily blocked the warning label. In issuing Mondayβs permanent injunction, the judge said the state can only require a private company to change its label if the statement is βpurely factual and non-controversial.β
Shubb said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and similar agencies in Europe havenβt found a connection between the chemical and cancer.
βThe great weight of evidence indicates that glyphosate is not known to cause cancer,β the judge said.
The decision is βa very important ruling for California agriculture and for science,β Monsanto said in a statement.
Last year, the Trump administration said it wouldnβt approve warning labels for products that contain glyphosate because its research showed the chemical poses no risks to public health.
Monsanto contends the product is safe but is facing thousands of lawsuits. Cancer victims in Northern California have won nearly $200 million in awards in three lawsuits, including a couple last year who were awarded about $2 billion. That award was later reduced to $87 million.
The verdicts are being appealed.