California Prop 65: Does Your Packaging Need a Warning? (2026)
Your packaging is selected. Artwork is approved. Production is scheduled. Then a supplier flags a potential California Proposition 65 concern with a closure liner.
Does your product need a warning? Should you consider another component? And what information does your team need before moving forward?
The answer starts with understanding the complete package, not just the bottle or jar. Closures, liners, labels, inks, and adhesives may all deserve consideration. But the presence of a listed chemical does not automatically mean a warning is required. Under Proposition 65, the central question is exposure.
For packaging buyers, the practical priority is to gather component-specific information early enough to support an informed review before artwork approval and production.
What Is California Proposition 65?
California Proposition 65 requires businesses to provide a clear and reasonable warning before knowingly and intentionally exposing people in California to listed chemicals, unless an exemption applies. The state’s list includes chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.
For packaging teams, two questions guide the review:
- What listed chemicals, if any, are associated with the selected packaging components?
- Could the finished product expose someone to those chemicals at a level that requires a warning?
Supplier specifications and disclosures help answer the first question. The second may require an assessment of the finished product, its packaging, and how people will use it. A component disclosure is a starting point, not a final warning determination.
Which Packaging Components Should You Review?
Start with the complete packaging configuration rather than a broad description such as “plastic bottle” or “glass jar.”
California’s guidance on phthalates, for example, identifies some plastic food-packaging materials, inks, pigments, adhesives, and sealants as potential sources of these chemicals. That does not mean every product in those categories contains a listed phthalate or requires a warning. It explains why the review should extend beyond the container body.
Use the following checklist to organize your supplier conversations:
Consider a food brand preparing to launch a new sauce. The jar and label are approved, but the supplier proposes a different closure liner before shipment. The team now needs to confirm what changed, obtain the available material information, and determine whether its earlier assessment still applies.
Building that review into the substitution process gives the team a chance to resolve questions before the new liner reaches the filling line.
Does a Listed Chemical Automatically Mean a Warning Is Required?
No. Finding a listed chemical in a packaging component does not, by itself, establish that the finished product requires a Proposition 65 warning. The warning determination depends on the exposure the product causes and whether an exemption applies.
California has established “safe harbor” exposure levels for many listed chemicals. These include:
- No Significant Risk Levels, or NSRLs, for chemicals listed as causing cancer.
- Maximum Allowable Dose Levels, or MADLs, for chemicals listed as causing reproductive harm.
Exposures at or below the applicable safe harbor levels do not require a warning. These are exposure thresholds, not blanket limits on the amount of a chemical that may be present in a packaging material.
When no safe harbor level exists, a business may still be able to demonstrate that the anticipated exposure does not require a warning. That determination can be complex, making qualified legal or toxicology support important when the facts warrant it.
Six Questions to Ask Before Packaging Approval
Use these questions to make material concerns easier to investigate without reconstructing the supply chain at the last minute.
1. What exactly are we purchasing?
Record the container, closure, liner, dispenser, label, and decoration by supplier reference or product code. Tie the review to the configuration you intend to order.
2. What information is available for each component?
Request current specifications, relevant supplier disclosures, and any applicable Proposition 65 warning notices. Confirm which components each document covers.
3. What information is still missing?
Identify unanswered questions, assign an owner, and set a follow-up date. Keep missing information visible rather than treating an incomplete response as a completed review.
4. How will substitutions be communicated?
Agree on a process for notifying your team about changes to materials, components, suppliers, or decoration. Include a review step before accepting a substitution that could affect an earlier assessment.
5. Who will evaluate the finished product?
Identify who owns the warning determination and when outside expertise is needed. Provide that team with the component documentation and relevant details about the product’s intended use.
6. Who will approve warning content and placement?
If a warning is necessary, establish who will approve its wording and delivery before labels are printed. Include online and catalog sales in that review where applicable.
California’s business guidance distinguishes between component-supplier communication and finished-product assessment. A component supplier may need to pass warning information to its purchaser, while the purchasing manufacturer determines whether its final product causes an exposure requiring a warning. Responsibilities also extend to other businesses in the supply chain.
What Should Packaging Teams Know About the 2026 Warning Transition?
If your product needs a warning, review the applicable requirements before approving new artwork or reordering printed packaging.
Changes to California’s short-form safe harbor warnings took effect January 1, 2025, with a three-year transition period. The updated short-form content identifies at least one listed chemical for each health effect covered by the warning: cancer, reproductive harm, or both.
For planning purposes:
- Products manufactured and labeled before January 1, 2028, may use either the prior or updated short-form content and retain safe harbor protection, provided applicable requirements are met.
- Beginning January 1, 2028, businesses using short-form warnings must use the updated language to qualify for that protection.
- Online warning requirements also need attention. For internet purchases, the safe harbor provisions generally require a warning before purchase as well as a warning on or with the product.
For a packaging team ordering labels in 2026, the transition is a reason to review warning language alongside inventory levels and production schedules. An older approved proof should not automatically become the basis for every future print run.
Does Every Packaging Review Require Testing?
No. Proposition 65 does not impose a universal testing requirement. Businesses may use their knowledge of listed chemicals in their products, choose to perform testing, or work with a toxicologist on an exposure assessment.
The useful question is not simply, “Do we need a test?” It is, “Do we have enough reliable information to support our decision?”
A supplier disclosure may help identify a potential concern. Testing may help answer a specific material or exposure question. Neither should be treated as a substitute for understanding what the information establishes about the finished product.
How Novvia Group Can Support Packaging Selection
A packaging partner’s role starts with helping you define the package you intend to purchase.
Novvia Group offers packaging across materials and formats, including bottles, jars, caps, closures, and dispensing options. Its food and beverage and beauty and personal care offerings support comparison of packaging formats and components against product and operational needs.
Bring the complete packaging brief to that conversation:
- Your product and intended use.
- Preferred materials, formats, and component references.
- Closure, liner, or dispensing requirements.
- Labeling and decoration needs.
- Launch timing, quantities, and delivery locations.
- Specific documentation questions identified by your review team.
Novvia’s beauty and personal care guidance emphasizes reviewing the complete assembly, confirming exact supplier references, and evaluating compatibility with filled samples. That component-level approach provides a useful foundation for packaging selection and supplier discussions.
Keep packaging selection and the Proposition 65 warning determination connected, but distinct. Supplier information supports the review; the business responsible for the finished product must determine whether its exposures require a warning.
Plan the Review Before the Print Run
Make Proposition 65 part of the packaging approval conversation before final artwork and bulk purchasing. Document the complete configuration, request available component information, and establish how changes will be reviewed.
Planning a new package or evaluating an alternative? Talk with Novvia Group about your container, closure, decoration, and specification needs so your team can identify the right questions earlier in the selection process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every plastic package need a Prop 65 warning?
No. A plastic material does not automatically require a warning, even if it contains a listed chemical. The determination depends on the exposure associated with the specific product and whether an exemption applies.
Can the closure or label matter if the bottle material is already known?
Yes. The bottle specification does not necessarily describe the closure liner, label adhesive, ink, coating, or dispenser. Some inks, adhesives, sealants, and plastic packaging materials can contain listed phthalates, so component-specific information may be relevant to the review.
Can packaging create a warning concern even if the contents do not?
Potentially. Packaging may contribute to exposure to a listed chemical. Whether a warning is required depends on the exposure from the finished product, not simply on whether a chemical is present in a component.
Does Prop 65 apply to businesses outside California?
It can. An out-of-state location does not automatically exempt a business selling products into California. Proposition 65 generally applies to businesses with 10 or more employees doing business in California, subject to applicable exemptions. Smaller businesses may still have contractual obligations related to warnings.
Can Novvia Group determine whether my finished product needs a warning?
Novvia can help you compare packaging formats and review supplier specifications as part of the selection process. The finished-product warning determination is a separate responsibility and may require qualified legal or toxicology expertise.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult qualified counsel or an appropriate technical professional about your specific products and obligations.
