Albertsons

In 2017, Albertsons developed a Chemical Policy that states the company is “committed to quality products, product safety, environmental stewardship and sound chemical management, including limiting the use of certain ingredients of consumer concern.” It goes on to state: “We strive for greater transparency and work with our supplier community to maintain and continually improve brand-specific guidelines for our products.” The policy describes some of the company’s initiatives around chemicals of concern. The company maintains a BRSL for its Open Nature private-label line of products (of which the company has expanded its assortment), certifies a number of private-label products to EPA Safer Choice, has set restrictions on BPA in packaging, and set restrictions on parabens, phthalates, and triclosan in its private-label baby products.

Since Albertsons’ BRSL only applies to a limited array of private-label products and only one chemical is restricted in packaging, we awarded partial credit.

The company has not set public quantifiable goals for reducing and eliminating chemicals of high concern, the policy does not appear to apply to operations, and the company does not have a publicly available Manufacturing Restricted Substance List (MRSL).

A corporate manager has some responsibility for product safety related to chemical hazards in products. The company recently shared: “Albertsons Companies has launched a Sustainability Council to address environmental and social issues that are important to the company and our stakeholders. The Council will dive deeper into several issues that are a priority for OWN Brands, including chemical management. The Council also has representation from the Executive Team who engages with the Board on topics of concern.”

It is not clear if the board is engaged in the chemical policy or if there are financial incentives for senior management to implement safer chemical policies.

The company states: “We require suppliers to adhere to our brand policies (as noted in the attached policy) and also require our Safer Choice products to meet minimum standards as defined by the EPA Safer Choice requirements.”

This score represents partial credit. While the company has described efforts to train suppliers and test products, it is unclear to what extent these initiatives are to ensure supplier conformance with its chemicals policy as opposed to primarily to ensure compliance with regulatory standards.

No discernible action on disclosure of ingredients that goes beyond OSHA Safety Data Sheet requirements or other compliance purposes.

The company reported significant progress in reducing the use of BPA in canned food liners over the past few years. Most recently, in April 2018, the company shared it “has eliminated BPA from all self-manufactured beverage cans in its OWN Brands portfolio of products. 100% of [its] self-manufactured beverage cans are BPA-free.” According to the company, “self-manufacturing” represents the majority of its beverage manufacturing plants, but not all of them. In 2017, the company stated: “As the result of a multi-year BPA initiative, more than 300 OWN Brands canned goods are now packaged in non-BPA lined cans. This represents more than 80% of our OWN Brands canned offerings. The process will continue until the transition reaches 100%.” Over time, Albertsons has also eliminated the use of BPA in thermal receipt paper and in “products that commonly are used by small children, including baby bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers and utensils.”

Albertsons sells a number of EPA Safer Choice-certified private-label cleaning products and states: “Our OWN Brands Safer Choice-certified products must adhere to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Safer Chemical Ingredients List.”

The company states: “We worked with private-label product suppliers to identify acceptable alternatives to packaging containing BPA….using alternatives that are currently available, we have made notable packaging and product changes.” However, the reports “Kicking the Can?” and “BPA – Buyer Beware,” published respectively in 2017 and 2016, documented regrettable substitutes, such as vinyl and styrene based resins, in Albertsons’ BPA-free cans. This demonstrates that Albertsons must develop a plan to evaluate alternatives when eliminating or reducing chemicals of high concern to avoid regrettable substitutes such as these. The company has still not disclosed how it is evaluating alternatives.

Albertsons’ Chemical Policy was posted to its website in 2017. The company’s Beyond Restricted Substances List (BRSL) is available for its Open Nature private-label products, but BRSL’s are not available for other product lines. The company recently shared that it is “in the process of  expanding the BRSL list for the Open Nature brand from food to non-foods and it will be published upon completion.” Albertsons went on to state: “We also reference the EPA BRSL list applicable for our Safer Choice Ceritified products.”

The company is utilizing the SmartLabel program to share information about ingredients in products. The company states: “Our OWN Brands products will be issued a QR code which is associated with a LabelInsights landing page (URL). In the future, this will be utilized to communicate updates directly to the consumer with regard to ‘free from requirements’ as well as specifically non GMO (or now BE).  Currently the Own Brands portfolio has been issued nearly 8,600 QR codes of which 52% has a corresponding SmartLabel® page.  We are also part of the Grocery Manufacturers Association workgroup to determine chemical/ingredient definitions that will be utilized on the SmartLabel®webpages. More information is available at www.smartlabel.org.”

The company is also making it easier for consumers to identify canned foods that no longer contain BPA in the can lining, stating: “In a move toward greater transparency, by the end of 2018, converted cans will be identifiable by ‘BPA Free’ and ‘Non-BPA Lining’ disclosure logos.”

No discernible progress on chemical footprint.

Albertsons sells numerous private-label cleaning and home care products that are Safer Choice-certified. In the last two years, Albertsons received a “Partner of the Year” award from EPA for “increasing awareness of the EPA’s Safer Choice Program” in stores, advertising and online messaging. The company stated: “We promoted our commitment and achievement involving the Safer Choice brand and it was well received on social media. We have also used social media as a vehicle to grow the Safer Choice name across all our banners with paid promotional content…We are also early members of EPA Safer Choice Stakeholder Coalition run by the Household & Commercial Products Association (HCPA), which advocates for continued promotion and expansion of the EPA Safer Choice program.”

No discernible public commitment via joint announcement.

Albertsons Companies has eliminated BPA from all self-manufactured beverage cans in its OWN Brands portfolio of products in 2018. One hundred percent of its self-manufactured beverage cans are now BPA-free. 

In order to grow the Safer Choice name, the company has promoted the Safer Choice brand with paid promotional content on social media across all its banners. It worked with social media influencers to get its Open Nature Safer Choice-certified products the most exposure possible, reaching over 10.3 million consumers.

The company states: “We are also early members of EPA Safer Choice Stakeholder Coalition run by the Household & Commercial Products Association (HCPA), which advocates for continued promotion and expansion of the EPA Safer Choice program.”

No indication that company invests significant financial resources into independent research into safer alternatives to chemicals of high concern and/or green chemistry solutions.