The company that owns Hannaford and several other major grocery chains in the United States says it is phasing out certain harmful chemicals in the packaging of its store brand foods.
Ahold Delhaize has announced that starting next year, it will work with its suppliers to eliminate hormone disrupting chemicals like PFAS, BPA, phthalates and others.
Spokesperson Eric Blom says the commitment is in response to what customers have said they want.
“Customers are increasingly looking for products with transparency and ingredients that they can feel good about, so this is a commitment to reduce or eliminate unwanted chemicals in products,” Blom says.
Mike Belliveau is executive director of the advocacy group the Environmental Health Strategy Center. He says in making this commitment, the company's moving faster than government:
“It's significant because it's the first major retail commitment in the U.S. to get these chemicals out of food packaging,” Belliveau says. “And it's incumbent upon market leaders like Hannaford to take these actions because our federal chemical safety system is badly broken.
Maine was the first state in the nation this year to pass a bill that bans pthalates and PFAS chemicals from food packaging. The restrictions are set to take effect in January of 2022. The chemicals, which have been linked with a variety of health risks, are often found in cans, plastic packaging, and the caps from glass jars.
