In California, companies are required by law to warn consumers if their products contain chemicals that could cause cancer.

在加利福尼亚，法律要求如果公司的产品含有可能致癌的化学物质，他们必须提醒消费者。

A non-profit group claimed acrylamide was in that category and brought a lawsuit against some 90 coffee retailers including Starbucks.

一家非盈利组织声称，丙烯酰胺在这一范畴之内，并对包括星巴克在内的90家咖啡零售商提起了诉讼。

Elihu Berle, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, ruled that the companies had failed to show there was no significant risk from a carcinogen produced in the roasting process.

洛杉矶高等法院的一名法官伊莱休·伯利判定，这些公司未能证明在烘焙咖啡豆的过程中没有产生致癌物质的重大风险。

The judge said: “Defendants failed to satisfy their burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that consumption of coffee confers a benefit to human health.”

该法官表示：“被告未能提供饮用咖啡有助于人体健康的优势证据。”

The lawsuit was filed in 2010 by the Council for Education and Research on Toxics (CERT). It calls for fines as large as $2,500 per person for every exposure to the chemical since 2002 at the defendants’ shops in California.

2010年有毒物质教育研究委员会提起了这一诉讼。该诉讼要求被告上缴罚款，而且自2002年起每有一位在被告位于加利福尼亚的店铺中接触到这种化学物质的顾客，被告就要上缴2500美元的罚款。

Given the state has a population of nearly 40 million any fines, which would be decided in a later stage of the trial, could be huge.

考虑到这个州有近4000万人口，在审判后期判定的任何罚款都可能会是天价。

Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s and other coffee retailers did not comment on the decision.

星巴克、唐恩都乐、麦当劳及其他咖啡零售商并未对这一裁定发表任何评论。

A statement from the National Coffee Association (NCA) read: “Cancer warning labels on coffee would be misleading. The US government's own dietary guidelines state that coffee can be part of a healthy lifestyle.”

美国咖啡协会的一份声明指出：“在咖啡上贴上致癌警告的标签会使人产生误解。美国政府的饮食指南上就表示，咖啡可能是健康生活方式的一部分。”