A toxic-free future is not around the corner.
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Not judging by the details shared in a new report by Toxic-Free Future, a non-profit consumer product safety organization.
The report reveals that most retailers in Canada and the U.S. are falling short when it comes to ensuring that products they sell are made with the safest chemicals and materials.
Only 50 of the brands graded on their Retailer Report Card scored As, while 17 failed completely.
“With PFAS in our drinking water and toxics found in black plastic spatulas, it is shocking how little retailers are doing to help solve this health crisis linked to hazardous chemicals and plastics in consumer products,” Cheri Peele, senior project manager for Toxic-Free Future, said in a news release.
Added Mike Schade, director of Toxic-Free Future’s Mind the Store program: “Simply banning toxic chemicals isn’t enough — retailers must go further to ensure that replacements are truly safer for consumers, communities and workers.”
Toxic-Free has compiled its Retailer Report Card since 2016 to provide consumers with an extensive assessment of retailer’s policies and programs for hazardous chemicals and plastics.
The most recent report scored the practices and policies of the 50 largest retailers in North America, representing 160 businesses and more than 200,000 outlets selling billions of dollars’ worth of products.
Toxic-Free suggested that, due to their size, these retailers hold the market power to demand and drive toxic chemicals and plastics out of the supply chain.
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The average grade was a D+ and restaurant chains and dollar stores ranked the lowest. Seventeen retailers earned a failing grade and a spot in the “Toxic Hall of Shame.”
Those earning failing grades included Chipotle, Subway, Trader Joe’s, Publix, McDonald’s, Macy’s, 7-Eleven, Five Below, LL Flooring (Lumber Liquidators), Nordstrom, Sally Beauty, Sherwin-Williams and Canadian supermarket chain Sobeys.
Others scoring an F were Inspire Brands (Arby’s parent company), Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s and Sonic, along with Yum! Brands, which owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.
Ahold Delhaize, which owns Stop & Shop, and Alimentation Couche-Tard, which owns Circle K, also failed.
On the flipside, the four retailers who earned an A were Apple, Sephora, Target and Walmart. Whole Foods Market, IKEA and Ulta scored Bs. (Ulta also received high marks for improvement, as the brand doubled its score from 2021 to 2024.)
Amazon scored middle of the road with a C.
Toxic-Free found that more than half of the retailers they analyzed were banning some dangerous chemical and harmful plastics, while 68% are reducing things such as PVC and PFAS, known as “forever chemicals.”
Each brand was rated on metrics, and their combined scores determined their final grades.
“It’s alarming that more than half of the companies in the Retailer Report Card don’t ask suppliers for ingredient information,” Caroline Boden, director of shareholder advocacy at Mercy Investment Services, said.
“This lack of transparency puts consumers, businesses, and shareholders at risk.”