It’s the ultimate nanny-state after all, but a California judge has ordered coffee retailers throughout the state to post cancer warnings on coffee sold in the Golden State. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle issued the order in a lawsuit initiated in 2010 by a non-profit group that alleged the companies were violating California law by not warning their customers of the presence of acrylamide (a chemical produced by roasting coffee beans) in coffee.  Defendants in the case have until next Tuesday, April 10 to file objections to the decision with the court, essentially appealing the decision. In his ruling, Berle found that the coffee companies failed to prove the negative – that the coffee roasting process does not expose coffee drinkers to a cancer risk. The plaintiffs, Council for Education and Research on Toxics (CERT) has asked for fines as large as $2500 per person for every exposure to the chemical since 2002, penalties which will be decided in the next phase of the trial. Maybe the state should just erect signs warning that “too much of a good thing is not good!” At a minimum, Judge Berle should switch to decaf!!!