twelve major companies — including the multinational that owns tim hortons — have been added to the toxic chemical “hall of shame” for failing to adequately address some of the harmful substances found in their products.rbi’s entry comes courtesy of this year’s instalment of
who’s minding the store? a report card on retailer actions to eliminate toxic chemicals, a report compiled by a group of non-profits and environmental advocacy organizations. the group handed out 12 failing grades to popular brands it says are not carrying their weight toward a safer future. the list includes restaurant brands international (rbi) — the owners of tim hortons, burger king and popeyes — as well as sobeys and metro, two of the three largest canadian food retailers.starbucks, subway, 7-eleven, sally beauty, publix, nordstrom, ace hardware and 99 cents only stores also made the toxic list, as did alimentation couche-tard, the operator of thousands of convenience stores in canada, the u.s. and a host of other countries.according to mike schade, the report’s co-author and campaign director for mind the store, it isn’t easy to fail this test. “we score companies on a curve,”
he said, according to cnn. “all a company has to do to break out of an f is to get more than 15 points and companies can earn up to 164 possible points. for example, nordstrom earned 13 points while target earned 105 points.”the campaign, now in its fifth year, graded 50 retail chains — accounting for more than 200,000 stores — on efforts made to reduce the presence of dangerous chemicals in their consumer products. the scoring system compiles the impact of 13 possible corporate actions, such as public commitments made by a company, efforts undertaken to hold suppliers accountable and steps taken to reduce the use of chemicals of concern over the past three years.a recent study found
an ‘alarming’ number of chemicals are circulating inside humans, including 55 that had not been reported before and 42 that couldn’t even be identified. while several studies have found causal links between perfluorooctanoic substances (pfas) — sometimes referred to as “forever chemicals” — and cancer,
according to the cbc, no definitive link has been proven. pfas exposure has also been associated with liver damage, endocrine disruption and immune disorders.another study concluded as many as 98.5 per cent of canadians may have such compounds inside of them. commonly used in non-stick cookware and waterproof fabrics, pfas are stable, durable chemicals that accumulate more quickly than the body can remove them.ten of the companies in the toxic hall of shame are repeat offenders while four of them — metro, publix, sally beauty and 99 cents only stores — did not earn any points for public actions toward safer policies, according to the report. “there may be cases where companies are not publicly disclosing progress, which is why we send them their draft scores in advance to give them an opportunity to respond to our findings and be more transparent,” schade said.“this year we gave companies about two months to review and respond to their draft scores. we reached out to every retailer multiple times. we also delayed the grading process given the pandemic, to give companies additional time this year to make progress.”rbi, one of only two companies that responded to a failing grade, told cnn that its current guidelines require “all approved plastic toys and promotional drink wear not contain bisphenol a (“bpas”), and prohibit the use of perfluorooctanoic acid (“pfoas”) within our approved paper and packaging products.”“we have very specific guidelines around the approved products that are used in our restaurants in order to ensure food safety. in the united states, this means ensuring our product and packaging specifications are compliant with fda standards.”when it comes to pfoas, schade said rbi does “not even go beyond regulatory compliance, as fda already revoked the use of this chemical in food packaging. they are just saying they comply with the law,” he said. “the us food and drug administration (fda) and several states banned bpa in some infant and children’s products many years ago, but burger king did not disclose action on bpa until fall 2019, which we acknowledged last year.”there was also plenty of positive news in the report, schade said, including that 70 per cent of the companies involved have better scores now than the year they received their first grade. six retailers garnered an a- or higher and apple and target both received an a+ for their efforts. several others, including mcdonald’s, have pledged to completely remove the presence of pfas by 2025. “as the largest fast food chain in the world, actions by mcdonald’s could change the entire industry as suppliers scramble to meet new requirements,” schade said.
and though there are many valid reasons for corporations to reduce reliance on toxic chemicals — including the ever-present threat of federal regulation — the collective power of the customers is a driving force companies would be foolish to ignore, schade said. “consumers today want to know that the products that they buy for their families are safe and healthy,” he said. “we’ve had meetings with some of these companies like burger king and starbucks, and some of the other companies just blow us off, ignore us and hope we’ll just go away.“we’re not going anywhere, and the consumers that are demanding safer and more sustainable products, they’re not going away either. so that’s why we’re calling on these dozen companies to ‘mind the store’ and get their act together.”
dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca
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