Ranking retailers on toxic chemicals

Ranking retailers on toxic chemicals

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Trader Joe’s

F
  • Trader Joe's

Trader Joe’s is still failing to publicly address toxic chemicals in the products it sells. Although the company’s score increased from 0 points in our last report card to 9.5 in this one, Trader Joe’s still receives an F and ranked 27th out of 40 retailers evaluated. In an online announcement dated November 27, 2017, the company explained its actions on BPA in receipt paper and can linings and noted an ongoing effort to reformulate Health & Beauty and Household products without certain chemicals. However, these statements are too limited to amount to an official safer chemicals policy. Trader Joe’s announced it would be moving to phenol-free reciept paper in January 2018, and the company updated the November 2017 statement in May of 2018 to notify the public that it would be rolling out non-phenol receipt paper in the next few months.

Opportunities for improvement: Trader Joe’s can make progress by developing a comprehensive public written safer chemicals policy, developing and enforcing a public Beyond Restricted Substance List, and setting public quantifiable goals with clear timelines for reducing and eliminating chemicals of high concern. The company should also confirm its progress on replacing phenol receipt paper with a safer substitute. Trader Joe’s should further completely eliminate and safely replace BPA and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging and food contact materials as well as phthalates in food and food contact materials in its supply chain. The company should become a signatory to the Chemical Footprint Project and pilot it with key private label suppliers.

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Summary of Trader Joe’s Grade

0 out of 17.5 points

Policy: Adopted a retailer safer chemicals policy

Explanation of Points

Trader Joe’s has no public written safer chemicals policy, has not set public quantifiable goals for reducing and eliminating chemicals of high concern, and does not have a publicly available Beyond Restricted Substance List (BRSL) or publicly available Manufacturing Restricted Substance List (MRSL).

The statements provided in Trader Joe’s November 2017 announcement, as updated in May 2018, do not amount to an official policy, as they are only related to actions on specific chemicals:

In an announcement dated November 27, 2017, Trader Joe’s states: “…when concerns related to the use of BPA were starting to build, we evaluated where and how it was being used within our operation and identified steps to take: changing the receipt-paper used at cash registers to a non-BPA version and working on canned products (eliminating BPA where we could in many products’ packaging and clarifying for customers which product packages still make use of BPA).” In a May 2018 update, the company adds: “We identified receipt paper that is free of phenol chemicals (including BPA and BPS), which we will be rolling out to all stores in the next couple months.” The company continued in its 2017 statement: “We continue to reevaluate our Health & Beauty and Household products, developing and introducing new formulas made without chemicals such as parabens.”

0 out of 7.5 points

Oversight: Established management responsibilities and incentives

Explanation of Points

No staff appear to be assigned to safer chemicals management in products (going beyond basic regulatory compliance), nor are any of the other activities described publicly deployed.
0 out of 10 points

Accountability: Ensures supply chain accountability

Explanation of Points

No discernible effort to assess supplier conformance with safer chemicals policy (because Trader Joe’s has no public safer chemicals policy)
0 out of 10 points

Disclosure: Requires suppliers to report use of chemicals in products to retailer

Explanation of Points

No discernible action on disclosure of ingredients that goes beyond OSHA Safety Data Sheet requirements or other compliance purposes.
3 out of 15 points

Action: Reduced or eliminated chemicals of high concern within the last three years

Explanation of Points

In response to testing by Ecology Center, Trader Joe’s stated on May 3, 2018: “We identified receipt paper that is free of phenol chemicals (including BPA and BPS), which we will be rolling out to all stores in the next couple months.” The company first disclosed that it was “pursuing receipt paper that is free of phenol chemicals (including BPA and BPS)” in January 2018.

TJ’s specifies which private-label product packaging doesn’t contain BPA. As of the writing of this report card, this list has not changed since November 13, 2017. The company also notes that certain private-label products are free of chemicals like parabens and phthalates but does not explicitly state whether this represents a “reduction” in chemical use.

0 out of 10 points

Safer Alternatives: Evaluates safer alternatives, avoids regrettable substitutes

Explanation of Points

Trader Joe’s has not publicly committed to finding and using safer alternatives in products, packaging or operations.

TJ’s does not specify what they’ve moved to in place of BPA for some packaging (although the 2016 report “BPA Buyer Beware” found that out of the cans tested, Trader Joe’s alternative liners were mostly polyester resin and a few PVC co-polymer materials).

In its November 27, 2017 announcement, Trader Joe’s states: “We continue to reevaluate our Health & Beauty and Household products, developing and introducing new formulas made without chemicals such as parabens.” However, the company does not explicitly state that it intends to replace chemicals “such as parabens” with safer alternatives.

In this announcement, the company discusses the topic of safety but not safer alternatives: “While there are aspects of our product supply-chain beyond our direct control, we will never leave to chance the safety of the products we offer…We take action quickly, aggressively investigating potential problems and removing product [sic] from sale if there is any doubt about its safety or quality….We won’t sell unsafe products.” Overall, Trader Joe’s indicates it will only take action after the fact, and not before a product is put on shelves, to investigate its safety.

1.5 out of 15 points

Transparency: Demonstrates a commitment to transparency and public disclosure

Explanation of Points

Trader Joe’s has no public safer chemicals policy or Beyond Restricted Substance List (BRSL).

The company discloses which products have packaging that is BPA-free, in line with its limited BPA packaging policy.

Although the company stated in 2018 that “None of our products contain hidden ingredients; all are clearly labeled,” some of the ingredient lists for personal care products include a reference to “fragrance” despite the fact that fragrance can have many components, some of which are potentially toxic. Additionally, the company does not appear to require the disclosure of contaminants, impurities, or byproducts.

0 out of 7.5 points

Chemical Footprint: Evaluates its chemical footprint

Explanation of Points

No discernible progress on chemical footprint.
0 out of 7.5 points

Third-party Standards: Promotes credible third party standards for safer products

Explanation of Points

No discernible progress on credible third-party safer chemicals standards going beyond regulatory compliance

Extra Credit:

0 out of 5 points

Joint Announcement: Public commitment demonstrated through joint announcement

Explanation of Points

No discernible public commitment via joint announcement.
5 out of 15 points

Continuous Improvement: Shows continuous improvement by steadily expanding safer chemicals policy

Explanation of Points

Trader Joe’s improved its chemicals management over the past year by announcing an initiative to move to phenol-free receipt paper in January 2018 and providing a timeline for the transition in May 2018.
0 out of 5 points

Safer Products: Program to promote safer products in stores and/or on website

Explanation of Points

TJ’s has no discernible program to feature and market safer products on store shelves and/or its website.

The company does highlight which products have BPA-free packaging under Product FAQs on its website (and notes whether a product is free of parabens, for example, on individual product pages), but this doesn’t amount to a program.

0 out of 5 points

Collaboration: Actively participates in collaborative process to promote safer chemicals

Explanation of Points

No indication of active participation in collaborative process to promote safer chemicals.
0 out of 5 points

Impact Investment: Investing financial resources into independent research into safer alternatives and/or green chemistry solutions

Explanation of Points

No indication that company invests significant financial resources into independent research into safer alternatives to chemicals of high concern and/or green chemistry solutions
Grade
F
Points
9.5
Take Action
F

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#TraderJoes earned an F from RetailerReportCard.com for failing to action on toxic PFAS and phthalates?! We deserve better! #MindTheStore https://retailerreportcard.com/retailer/trader-joes/Click To Tweet
Summary of Trader Joe’s Grade
2017 2018
F F

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