Yesterday I was researching an MLM company debuting a strip-delivery supplement.

It reminded me a lot of Axis Klarity from Elomir, an MLM company launched under LaCore Enterprises last year.

Wondering if LaCore Enterprises might be behind this other company, I ran a few searches to see if anything come up.

I forget the exact string that brought me there, but soon enough I was reading about LaCore Enterprises ongoing lead contamination issues.

To date judgments against and settlements reached with LaCore Enterprises are approaching a cool half million.

Environmental Research Center Inc. bills itself as

a non-profit corporation organized under California’s Non-Profit Public Benefit Corporation Law, whose mission is to safeguard the public from health hazards that impact families, workers, and the environment.

Over the years ERC has filed seven Proposition 65 60-Day Notices against various LaCore Enterprises MLM companies.

A 60-Day Notice is a document filed with California’s Attorney-General, identifying an allegedly contaminated product and potential harm.

The noticed party then has 60 days to remedy the alleged violation. If they fail to do so, a lawsuit can then be brought against the noticed party.

Proposition 65 lawsuits can be filed by the State of California or private parties. ERC is a private party.

All of ERC’s 60-Day Notices filed against LaCore Enterprises pertain to lead contamination:

  1. Pruvit, LaCore Enterprises, LaCore Nutraceuticals, LaCore Labs and LaCore Logistics – lead found in Keto//OS NAT Pure Therapeutic Ketones Swiss Cacao, filed June 5th, 2020
  2. Pruvit, LaCore Enterprises, LaCore Nutraceuticals, LaCore Labs and LaCore Logistics – lead found in KETO//OS NAT Pure Therapeutic Ketones Lime Time, filed July 2nd, 2020
  3. Pruvit, LaCore Enterprises, LaCore Nutraceuticals, LaCore Labs and LaCore Logistics – lead found in KETO//OS NAT Pure Therapeutic Ketones Maui Paunch, Raspberry Lemonade, Splash, Heart Tart and Caffeine Free Heart Tart varieties, filed December 22nd, 2020
  4. Pruvit, LaCore Enterprises, LaCore Nutraceuticals, LaCore Labs and LaCore Logistics – lead found in KETO//OS NAT Pure Therapeutic Ketones Tru Passion Caffeine Free, Caffeine Free Lime Time, Tru Passion Charged, Caffeine Free Maui Punch, Splash Caffeine Free and Raspberry Lemonade Caffeine Free varieties, filed March 9th, 2021
  5. Uforia Science, UClue, LaCore Enterprises, HAPInssBrands, Amplifei International and Alternative Laboratories – lead found in HapiTides Acai and Citrus Nucleotide Drink varieties, filed September 15th, 2022
  6. Uforia Science, UClue, LaCore Enterprises, HAPInssBrands, Amplifei International and Alternative Laboratories – lead found in HapiTides Cacao Nucleotide Drink and Hapi Nutritional Science Systems Earth Essential Health Beverage Island Pina Colada, filed October 6th, 2022
  7. Uclue and Uforia Science – lead found in HapiTides Acai, Citrus, and Cocoa Nucleotide Drink varieties, filed November 4th, 2022

ERC claim that prior to notices going out, products are “tested by an accredited laboratory”. Detected lead detected “exceed(s) allowable levels” under California’s Prop 65 law.

Out of the six 60-Day notices ERC filed against LaCore Enterprises, two have resulted in filed complaints.

Things get a bit sketchy here, owing to filed Complaints being at the state level and use of self-reporting on California’s AG website.

The first complaint dates back to the first June 5th 60-Day Notice. The Complaint was filed on August 17th, 2020.

Seventy-nine docket entries and two years later, ERC was awarded a $400,000 judgment on June 22nd, 2022.

Stipulated judgment entered for Plaintiff Environmental Research Center, Inc. AKA a California non-profit corporation against Defendant Pruvit Ventures, Inc., Defendant Lacore Enterprises, LLC, Defendant Lacore Nutraceuticals, Inc., Defendant Lacore Labs, Inc. and Defendant Lacore Logistics, LLC on the Amended Complaint filed by Environmental research center, inc. on 09/24/2021 for the principal amount of $400,000.00 for a total of $400,000.00.

The California AG’s website also lists a Complaint filed for ERC’s December 2020 Pruvit complaint. I wasn’t able to find any information on this case.

Looking at an Amended Complaint filed in March 2021, it appears all of the Pruvit ERC 60-Day Notices were retroactively added to the case.

Although no complaint is noted for the three Uforia Science 60-Day Notices, two have been settled out of court.

Cases 2022-02182 (Sep 2022) and 2022-02667 (November 2022) were individually settled for $37,500 each ($11,300 civil penalty and $26,200 in legal costs).

This brings the total cost of LaCore Enterprises lead contamination to $475,000 so far.

Apart from the amount, the money side of LaCore Enterprises’ lead contamination issues isn’t particularly interesting. What’s worrying is the contamination occurred in supplements intended for regular consumption.

Lead contamination is no trivial matter.

Lead is toxic to humans and can affect people of any age or health status. The FDA monitors and regulates levels of lead in foods, including dietary supplements, and cosmetics.

While it is not possible to prevent or remove lead entirely from foods, the levels in food can be reduced.

For adults, chronic lead exposure is associated with kidney dysfunction, hypertension, and neurocognitive effects.

Cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm are other commonly cited side-effects.

The FDA classifies 15 micrograms of exposure to lead a day to pose “no significant risk”. Proposition 65 sets a much lower 0.5 microgram daily limit.

While we know ERC found more than 0.5 micrograms per intended daily serving of LaCore Enterprises’ products, the exact amount found hasn’t been disclosed.

As alleged by ERC in their Pruvit complaint;

Consumers have been ingesting these products for many years, without any knowledge of their exposure to this very dangerous chemical.

Pruvit Ventures has been aware of the presence of lead in the (named products) and has failed to disclose the presence of this chemical to the public, who undoubtedly believed they were ingesting totally healthy and pure products pursuant to the company’s statements.

Personally I don’t see any reason for lead to be present in nutritional supplements. Knowledge of the presence of lead in any supplement I was considering would heavily influence my purchase choice.

That ERC was still detecting lead in LaCore Enterprises’ supplements as recently as November 2022 is worrying.

Considering LaCore Enterprises manufactures not only a wide range of supplements for their own companies, but also white-label supplements for third parties, hopefully they’ve by now eliminated the source of lead contamination.