Kroger

In 2019, Kroger finally set a deadline to phase out BPA in its private-label cans, stating: “To date, we have transitioned 92% of our products to feasible, non-BPA alternatives — this includes all canned offerings under our Simple Truth Organic® brand — and intend to complete this process by the end of 2020.” Partial credit is awarded for Kroger having a limited BRSL for prohibiting BPA from cans and for setting limited public quantifiable goals. Kroger has published a list of chemicals of concern that it prohibits in “natural” and “organic” private-label household, cleaning and personal care items (including a few PFAS chemicals in health and beauty products) as well as a list of direct food additives it prohibits in food (but generally not indirect food additives such as PFAS), but no credit is awarded for this, as establishing a “free from” list only for organic and natural product lines does not represent progress toward making all of Kroger’s products safer.

In 2018, the company also shared that it initiated work on creating a BRSL for its General Merchandise products, specifically apparel products, and will be working with an external expert to develop this list. In 2019, the company shared an update stating it now planned to adopt the BRSL for Kroger apparel items in early 2020. Partial credit is awarded to recognize the company’s effort in creating this BRSL. The company also noted it will consider adding a manufacturing restricted substance list (MRSL) in the future.

In 2017, the company disclosed it was working with key stakeholders to review options for a future chemicals policy, and in 2018, the company shared that it “continues to review additional product categories as well as data tracking capabilities as [it] evaluate[s] the opportunity for a broader safer chemicals policy.” However, Kroger has not launched a safer chemicals policy or disclosed any progress leading to a policy since then.

Kroger has no public written safer chemicals policy that applies to products, packaging or operations, and does not have a publicly available BRSL (besides those for natural and organic products or cans) or a publicly available MRSL.

Although Kroger has no public written safer chemicals policy, a corporate manager at Kroger has some responsibility for product safety related to chemical hazards in products. The company stated in 2019: “Kroger’s Corporate Food Technology group’s mission is to ensure food safety, and that includes continuous evaluation of Kroger’s products for attributes that are undesirable to our customers for health and safety reasons. In addition to the leadership of our Corporate Food Technology group in ensuring product safety, Kroger relies on the expertise and guidance of our Our Brands, packaging, manufacturing and compliance teams, including our Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, to identify opportunities to move to safer chemicals, such as the work underway to adopt a Restricted Substance Policy for apparel.”

Partial credit is awarded since the company has no safer chemicals policy.

In 2019, Kroger stated: “Kroger is developing a Restricted Substance Policy for our private label apparel products. We anticipate the policy to be finalized and live in early 2020. We will communicate the specific requirements of the policy to apparel suppliers and provide training on the process. A testing verification process will be used to monitor supplier compliance with the policy.” Partial credit is awarded for the development of this implementation strategy.

Kroger does utilize routine third-party product testing to facilitate chemicals reporting requirements for children’s products sold in the states of Oregon and Washington, but this is primarily to meet regulatory requirements.

Otherwise, Kroger has not made any discernible effort to assess supplier conformance with any safer chemicals policy because Kroger has no public written safer chemicals policy or BRSL.

Kroger has not taken any discernible action on suppliers disclosing ingredients to the retailer, going beyond regulatory compliance.

In 2011, the company first pledged to address BPA in canned food liners. It reported progress in its 2018 Sustainability Report, stating: “Kroger is steadfast in its efforts to remove BPA from the linings of Our Brands packages. We have made significant progress in engaging our canned goods suppliers to transition to feasible, Non-BPA alternatives. As of May 2018, we have converted 92% of applicable Our Brands canned goods to Non-BPA liners. This includes all canned offerings under our Simple Truth Organic® brand. As packaging labels get updated, customers can identify which canned goods have Non-BPA liners by simply locating our standardized Non-BPA liner icon across the Our Brands portfolio.” This demonstrates substantive progress over time, though the company reported the same percentage in the 2019 sustainability report, indicating no additional progress had been made since last year. In 2019, Kroger finally set a deadline – the end of 2020 – to phase out BPA in its private-label cans.

Kroger also reported in 2018 that it: “removed parabens, phthalates and formaldehyde donors from several Kroger brand health and beauty care items including skin lotions, skin cleansers, sunscreen, oral care and shampoo” and that these reformulated products arrived on store shelves in 2018. The company shared that it “is also evaluating Our Brands products against the EPA Safer Choice program specifications.” In its 2019 sustainability report, the company reported: “In 2019, we are slated to introduce reformulated liquid hand wash products that are certified to the U.S. EPA’s Safer Choice standard.”

The company had previously noted: “Kroger continuously evaluates its products for undesirable ingredients in order to keep our customers safe and to respond to their concerns. We review products on a category basis to remove chemicals of concern and undesirable ingredients such as artificial colors and flavors, additives and preservatives.” In addition, Kroger’s Simple Truth and Simple Truth Organic brands maintain lists of undesirable ingredients for both food and non-food products that suppliers must avoid in producing these products. Currently, Kroger has 1,400 unique Simple Truth and Simple Truth Organic products on the market and continues to expand its Simple Truth and Simple Truth Organic product lines. A list of Kroger’s FREE FROM ingredients can be found on its Simple Truth website: https://www.simpletruth.com/why-simple-truth/free-from/. The company also stated: “Over the last several years, the Our Brands team has responded to customers’ requests to remove certain ingredients from our products. We have also worked to reformulate alternatives for our baby products. They are now free from triclosan, quaternium-15, phthalates, parabens and chlorine free pulp. By the end of 2014, Our Brands body washes and antibacterial soaps were triclosan-free.”

The company stated in 2019: “Kroger continues to work with our suppliers to find replacements for undesirable product ingredients. Suppliers must demonstrate the safety of the alternatives they are using, with suitable alternatives varying by product category” but still does not define how it evaluates alternatives. 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 Kroger’s BPA-free cans. This demonstrates that Kroger must develop a more robust program to evaluate alternatives when eliminating or reducing CHCs to avoid regrettable substitutes such as these, especially as it aims to achieve the phase-out by 2020.

Kroger has published a list of chemicals and other ingredients it prohibits in “natural” and “organic” private-label everyday household, cleaning, and personal care items, including phthalates and certain parabens. The list is online at https://www.kroger.com/d/non-food-free-from-list. However, since the “free-from” list only applies to natural and organic products, and does not apply more broadly, no credit is awarded.

In 2017, Kroger stated it: “is currently working with key stakeholders to review options for a future chemicals policy.” The company shared in 2018 that it: “recently initiated work on creating a Restricted Substances List (RSL), which goes beyond regulatory requirements, for its General Merchandise products, specifically apparel products (recognizing that apparel is one of the most environmentally-intensive production processes), and will be working with an external expert to develop this list.” The company went on to state: “Kroger continues to review additional product categories as well as data tracking capabilities as we evaluate the opportunity for a broader safer chemicals policy.”

Two years after the company first stated it was reviewing options for a safer chemicals policy, Kroger still has no public safer chemicals policy or MRSL. The company has pledged to adopt and publish an RSL for apparel in 2020.

The company previously stated on its website that: “As packaging labels get updated, customers will be able to identify which canned goods have Non BPA liners by simply locating our standardized Non BPA liner icon across our corporate brands portfolio.” However, the company has not committed to publicly disclosing the identity of the alternative materials. The company does not appear to further encourage or require suppliers to publicly disclose ingredients in products online or on product packaging.

Kroger has not made any discernible progress on measuring its chemical footprint via the Chemical Footprint Project.

Kroger sells products that meet credible third-party safer chemicals standards going beyond regulatory compliance. For example, Kroger carries EPA Safer Choice products produced by brands such as Earth Friendly Products, CLR, Seventh Generation, and Quick Shine. Kroger promotes safer products such as these through its in-store and online Sustainability Lives Here sales event.

In 2019, the company stated: “1) Several Kroger brand hand soaps are formulated to align with the EPA Safer Choice standard. We are evaluating additional formulated product categories for EPA Safer Choice alignment in the next few years. (2) We have recently began sourcing OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 certified products in some of our bedding and home textile products. This means that these products have been tested and passed for harmful substances in accordance with STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®.”

Kroger has not made a discernible public commitment through a joint announcement or other coordination effort in advance of a major announcement within the time periods specified in the scoring rubric.

In 2019, Kroger finally set a deadline to phase out BPA in its private-label cans, stating: “To date, we have transitioned 92% of our products to feasible, non-BPA alternatives — this includes all canned offerings under our Simple Truth Organic® brand — and intend to complete this process by the end of 2020.” However, as mentioned elsewhere, it’s not clear whether Kroger has moved to safer alternatives in these products. The company plans to launch a BRSL for apparel in early 2020.

Kroger has established “free-from” lists for non-food products in its Simple Truth and Simple Truth Organic lines in the laundry, cleaning, and health and beauty categories. Ingredients not allowed in these products include parabens, triclosan, methylene chloride, and some PFAS. The company stated in 2019: “Kroger’s Simple Truth and Simple Truth Organic brand has grown to include more than 1,500 unique products by the end of 2018 and reached annual sales of $2.3+ billion in 2018. More information about Simple Truth can be found here: https://www.kroger.com/b/simpletruth, including our Free From 101+ list: https://www.kroger.com/b/simpletruth/why-simple-truth/free-from…Today, all stores carry a natural and organic product assortment with more than 2,200 of our stores carrying natural and organic products across all departments. On average, stores carry about 4,000 natural and organic items. Many of our customers care as much about what’s not in their food as what is in their food, beauty and other products. As a result, Kroger has defined strict ingredient standards for our natural and organic products: these products must exclude more than 100 ingredients, flavors and preservatives that our customers tell us are undesirable. We have developed these ‘free-from’ lists for Food, Non-food and Health and Beauty products. Learn more at the Natural & Organic section of our website: https://www.kroger.com/d/natural-organic. Free from lists: https://www.kroger.com/d/food-free-from-list; https://www.kroger.com/d/non-food-free-from-list…We have multiple promotional events during the year that feature our Simple Truth, Simple Truth Organic and Natural & Organic assortment.”

The company shared that: “In 2019, Kroger joined the Apparel and Footwear International RSL Management Group (AFIRM), an industry collaborative group dedicated to reduce the use and impact of harmful substances in the apparel supply chain.”