YEREVAN, MARCH 30, ARMENPRESS. Coffee sellers, including Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O), must put a cancer warning on coffee sold in California, a Los Angeles judge has ruled, possibly exposing the companies to millions of dollars in fines, Reuters reports.

A group of activists sued some 90 coffee retailers, including Starbucks, on grounds they were violating a California law requiring companies to warn consumers of chemicals in their products that could cause cancer. One of those chemicals is acrylamide, a byproduct of roasting coffee beans that is present in high levels in brewed coffee.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle said in a decision that coffee sellers had failed to show there was no significant risk from a carcinogen produced in the coffee roasting process.

Starbucks and other coffee seller companies can file objections to the decision until April 10.

English –translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan