Coffee Brands Fight California Ruling on Cancer Warnings

1980s-era state law on chemicals had wide voter support, but trade group says it is confusing, frightening as applied to coffee

The coffee industry is fighting the suggestion its products could cause cancer.

A Los Angeles judge’s recent ruling in a lawsuit over cancer labels has galvanized coffee brands and retailers, including Starbucks Corp., to push harder to avoid carrying the labels.

The companies say that trace amounts of the chemical acrylamide in their brew...