Just Ingredients Lawsuit: Lead Claims and Prop 65 Settlement

The main Just Ingredients lawsuit is a California Proposition 65 enforcement action alleging that ten of the company’s protein powders and pre-workout products contained lead above the state’s daily exposure threshold without the required warnings. It ended in a $70,000 settlement and a consent judgment entered in Alameda County Superior Court on February 24, 2026, permanently barring unwarned California sales of the covered products.¹

What the Lawsuit Alleged

The Environmental Research Center (ERC), a nonprofit Prop 65 enforcer, said ten Just Ingredients products exposed consumers to more than 0.5 micrograms of lead per day through ingestion without carrying Proposition 65 warnings.¹ The products were named across two 60-day notices in fall 2024.

The September 25, 2024 notice covered Mountain Berry Protein Powder, Roasted Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Powder, Strawberry Limeade Pre-Workout, and Lucky Mint Protein Powder.² An October 4, 2024 notice added six more protein powders: Chai, Salted Caramel, Strawberries & Cream, Chocolate, Coconut Chocolate, and Mint Chocolate.³ Lead was the only chemical listed. No other heavy metals appeared in the legal filings.

Who Was Sued

ERC filed its civil complaint in Alameda County Superior Court on January 6, 2025, represented by attorney Michael Freund.² A supplemental 60-day notice on March 19, 2025 added a co-defendant: Keystone Co-Pack Manufacturing, LLC (formerly TKS Products, LLC), identified as the manufacturer of all ten products and operating from Pleasant Grove and Highland, Utah.⁴ A supplemental complaint followed on May 29, 2025.

The Settlement and Court Judgment

The parties reached a settlement on October 21, 2025, amended on November 3, 2025, consolidating the earlier notices into one resolution.¹ The consent judgment was entered on February 24, 2026.

The financial terms totaled $70,000: $5,000 in civil penalties and $65,000 in attorney fees and costs. Keystone’s share of that total was listed at $35,000.⁵

The injunction is broader than the money. Just Ingredients and Keystone are permanently barred from manufacturing, distributing, or selling any of the covered products in California if they expose a consumer to more than 0.5 micrograms of lead per day, unless the products carry Proposition 65 warnings meeting the settlement’s specifications.² Keystone’s obligations apply only for as long as it remains the manufacturer of these products. A separate entity, TKS Co-Pack Manufacturing LLC, was explicitly excluded from the settlement’s protections and could still face its own Prop 65 claims tied to Just Ingredients products.⁵

How Just Ingredients Responded

In February 2025, with the case underway, the company published a blog post titled “Heavy Metals in Food: What They Are and How They Get There.” It acknowledged that some of its products carry Proposition 65 warning labels and named the Strawberries & Cream Protein Powder as one that exceeds California’s 0.5 microgram daily lead threshold because of the organic strawberries in the formula.⁶

The company said, “Exceeding the MADL doesn’t necessarily indicate a product is unsafe; it just means the levels exceed what the state of California has set as the reproductive harm threshold.”⁷ Rather than reformulate to reduce lead levels, Just Ingredients said it conducts third-party testing at multiple stages and provides Certificates of Analysis. It said it would not use undisclosed natural flavors or source ingredients with “artificially reduced heavy metal levels” to avoid Prop 65 labels, arguing that doing so would compromise nutritional quality.⁶

The Separate Lead Safe Mama Dispute

A different matter, sometimes confused with the ERC case, involves Tamara Rubin of Lead Safe Mama, LLC. Rubin’s organization tested Just Ingredients’ Vanilla Bean Protein Powder and reported finding lead, cadmium, and arsenic.⁸ On February 10, 2025, Rubin disclosed that Just Ingredients, through attorney Garth Ward, had sent a cease-and-desist letter characterizing the organization’s publications as “false and misleading” and taking issue with the statement that “there is no safe level of Lead exposure.”⁹

Rubin publicly rejected the letter, calling it “supremely amusing” and an intimidation tactic, and said her results and the company’s own lab results were “nearly identical.”⁹ No litigation resulted from the cease-and-desist letter as of the available record.

A Separate Accessibility Lawsuit

Unrelated to the Prop 65 case, plaintiff Andre Battle filed suit against Just Ingredients in Illinois on September 8, 2025, alleging the company’s website is not sufficiently accessible to people with disabilities.¹⁰ No outcome has been reported as of the available record.

Why Prop 65 Settlements Like This Are Common

The Just Ingredients settlement fits a well-worn pattern. California’s Proposition 65 requires businesses to warn consumers about exposure to roughly 900 listed chemicals, and private enforcers file most of the cases.¹¹ Lead is by far the most common chemical cited: in December 2025 alone, 269 of 402 total notices involved lead and lead compounds, with protein powders and supplements frequent targets.¹² Private enforcers issued more than 5,000 notices in 2025.¹³

The $70,000 payment is modest by Prop 65 standards, and its split is typical: attorney fees have historically accounted for roughly 75% of total payments across private Prop 65 settlements.¹⁴ Here, $65,000 of the $70,000 went to fees and costs, and $5,000 was designated as a civil penalty.¹

1
California Office of the Attorney General. 60-Day Notice, AG No. 2025-00870
2
Environmental Research Center. ERC Settlement – Just Ingredients
3
California Office of the Attorney General. Proposition 65 Notice of Violation – Just Ingredients
4
California Office of the Attorney General. Supplemental Notice of Violation – Just Ingredients and Keystone Co-Pack
5
California Office of the Attorney General. Consent Judgment – Just Ingredients and Keystone Co-Pack
6
Just Ingredients. Heavy Metals in Food: What They Are and How They Get There
7
Just Ingredients. Heavy Metals in Food: What They Are and How They Get There
8
Tamara Rubin / Lead Safe Mama. Just Ingredients Vanilla Bean Protein Powder
9
Tamara Rubin / Lead Safe Mama. Just Ingredients Sends Lead Safe Mama LLC a Cease and Desist Letter
10
Accessibility.com. Andre Battle vs. Just Ingredients, Inc.
11
Eurofins. Prop 65 and Contaminants in Dietary Supplements FAQ
12
Juris Law Group. Prop 65 Violations Newsletter December 2025
13
Greenberg Traurig. 2025 California Proposition 65 Trends
14
KQED. Who Profits From Proposition 65