Retailers committing to phase out PFAS as a class in food packaging and products

A growing chorus of major retailers, from Amazon to Lowe's to McDonald's, are adopting policies to phase out and ban PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) from food packaging and/or products. This action is driven by increasing evidence of drinking water contamination by PFAS, the potential for serious health impacts from exposure to these chemicals, increasing government regulation, and pressure from NGOs and consumers to act.

Currently, 32 unique retail chains with more than 150,000 stores and more than $654 billion in sales have committed to eliminating or reducing PFAS in food packaging, textiles and/or other products. The fact sheet below shows the break down of these commitments.

Commitments listed below for food packaging:

Commitments listed below for textiles and other products:

Fourteen fast-food and fast-casual restaurant chains with a combined total of more than 123,534 stores and over $203.2 billion in annual sales have committed to eliminate PFAS in food packaging.

Four of the biggest grocery chains in the United States with a combined total of more than 5,000 stores and over $130 billion in annual sales have committed to reduce or eliminate PFAS in food packaging.

Six other retailers selling food or food packaging with a combined total of more than 13,000 locations and over $47 billion in annual sales have committed to reduce or eliminate PFAS in food packaging.

Eight top retailers with a combined total of more than 8,000 stores and over $260 billion in annual sales have committed to eliminate or reduce PFAS in textiles and other products.

Retailers: Are you interested in banning PFAS in packaging or products but not sure where to start? To learn about model policies and practices, get in touch with us at [email protected] or 646.783.3477. Our detailed guides for food packaging are available here and break down the process into straightforward steps.

State and federal legislators and regulators: See the Safer States bill tracker to see pending and adopted state policies to restrict PFAS in food packaging and textiles.

Endnotes

1 Except noted below, number of restaurants and total sales are from 2019 and in the U.S., from QSR magazine's list entitled "Ranking the Top 50 Fast-Food Chains in America," https://www.qsrmagazine.com/content/qsr50-2020-top-50-chart

CAVA: Restaurants are as of March 2021 (https://cava.com/locations); sales are from 2018 (https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/cava-secures-40m-in-latest-funding-round/568953/)

Chick-Fil-A: Store locations and sales are in the U.S. and Canada. Store locations. 2020 revenue.

Freshii: Number of restaurants and total sales are from all of its locations across the world; North America-only numbers could not be found. Number of locations is as of February 2021, and sales reflect FY2020 https://freshii.inc/press-releases/press-release-details/2021/Freshii-Inc.-Announces-Fourth-Quarter-and-Fiscal-Year-2020-Results-and-Announces-Normal-Course-Issuer-Bid/default.aspx

McDonald's: Restaurants and sales are global. Sales are for 2019, https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/en-us/our-stories/article/ourstories.q4-and-2019-results.html; locations are as of the end of 2020, https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0000063908/66cf4c9f-1e8c-4436-8a2f-95f189fde65f.pdf

Nathan's Famous: Restaurants and sales are global.

Panera: US-only stores and sales for FY2019 are from here: https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/top-500-chains-2020/panera-bread

Restaurant Brands International (RBI): Restaurants and sales are global. https://www.rbi.com/about-us/overview/

Starbucks: Restaurants and sales are global. As of April 2022 there are 34,000 stores worldwide. Global sales a