Update:
Infowars did finally issue a refund after I mailed the opened products back at my expense.
Response from Infowars 10 Days Later:
Truly sorry for the delay in response and inconvenience. Recently, some Infowars Life products have been subjected to State of California Proposition 65 Enforcement. This does not mean that our products are necessarily dangerous, only that we place labels on them warning California residents of the presence of certain ingredients. For more information on what this means for our products, visit here.
Reply:
You know, this response being provided earlier than 10 days in would have been appreciated. I'm aware of the California standards being higher, but as you carefully worded it, it doesn't necessarily mean it's unsafe, which would imply it doesn't necessarily mean it's safe either. Let's think it through a bit shall we from the info in the media and the info you sent me...
But not all of Jones’s offerings are quite as harmless as essential oils or arabica beans. In fact, new research commissioned by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) has determined that two products sold by Jones contain potentially dangerous levels of the heavy metal lead, which is universally known to be harmful to the body.
“The chemical was found in the Infowars Caveman Paleo Formula and the Info Wars Myco-ZX supplements. People who take the daily recommended dose of the Formula product would ingest more than twice the daily limit for lead under California law. People who take the Myco-ZX product would ingest more than six times the daily limit for lead under California law,” a CEH release said.
http://www.newsweek.com/alex-j
The Proposition 65 levels, however, are the most stringent and incorporate a 1000-fold safety factor below the level where there is no observable effect for chemicals such as lead that are naturally occurring. That means the State of California has found no observable effect at amounts up to 1,000 times the threshold that would trigger a Proposition 65 disclosure. The lead in herbal products is no more or less risky than lead found in the traditional American diet, which is reported to provide about 15-25 mcg of lead per day or more from natural ingredients.
http://www.newsweek.com/alex-j
The Proposition 65 levels, however, are the most stringent and incorporate a 1000-fold safety factor below the level where there is no observable effect for chemicals such as lead that are naturally occurring. That means the State of California has found no observable effect at amounts up to 1,000 times the threshold that would trigger a Proposition 65 disclosure. The lead in herbal products is no more or less risky than lead found in the traditional American diet, which is reported to provide about 15-25 mcg of lead per day or more from natural ingredients.
For comparison, while Proposition 65 triggers a warning at just 0.5 mcg / day for lead, other lead threshold limits include:
- 6 mcg / day US FDA
- 20 mcg / day AHPA - Canada's Natural Health Dictorate
- 15 mcg/L US EPA
https://www.infowarsstore.com/proposition-65-faq
So both products when taken combined would put the amount at 4mcg. Not an amount I feel comfortable adding to my intake for two supplements. In this report from Dr. Greger at NutritionFacts.org, he reports that low-level lead exposure at levels currently considered acceptable is linked to gout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
It would also seem that the type of animals being used to make such products, like the chickens in Caveman makes a difference.
Chickens, oddly enough, seem to tolerate lead better than humans, horses, dogs and wild fowl such as ducks, and they can hold very high levels without exhibiting clinical signs or hematological changes.10 Unaware of any problem, small farmers and urban homesteaders may be regularly serving meat, broth and eggs that are contaminated with lead to family members and customers. Although lead poisoning from acute exposure makes news headlines, it is chronic low-level exposure building up day by day — as could occur from the regular drinking of contaminated broth — that we are concerned about here.
http://www.newsweek.com/alex-jones-infowars-supplements-tainted-lead-687019
Related:
Some Thoughts for Vegetarian/Vegans Regarding Bone Broth - Bone Broth Benefits for Digestion, Arthritis and Cellulite
Detox Naturally With Cilantro and Clay
