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:

• Fast-food and fast-casual restaurant chains
• Grocery chains
• Other retail chains

Commitments listed below for textiles and other products:

• Retail chains

Fast-food and fast-casual chains phasing out PFAS from food packaging

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.

Retailer	Details of commitment	Number of U.S. stores1 (except as noted below)	Total annual U.S. sales1 (except as noted below)
	Restaurant Brands International (RBI) announced in March 2022 that it will ban added PFAS in food packaging globally by 2025. RBI—which owns Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons—is one of the world’s largest quick service restaurant companies. The company noted it will continue “to work with packaging vendors to test incoming raw materials to ensure added PFAS is not included in our packaging, including in the recycled content of some of our paper packaging.”	28,000 (global)	$35 billion (global)
	CAVA committed in August 2020 to eliminate PFAS from its food packaging, including molded fiber containers and other items, by mid-2021. In 2022 the company shared that due to a multitude of factors related to the pandemic, the PFAS phase-out was taking longer than planned and it was working to complete its transition by the end of 2022.	110	~$85 million
	Chick-fil-A disclosed in March 2022 it eliminated intentionally added PFAS from all newly produced packaging going forward in its supply chain.  They clarified that while “some legacy packaging may still be in restaurants, it is expected to be phased out by the end of summer of 2022.”	2,500	$4.3 billion
	Chipotle announced in March 2020 it would phase PFAS out of its molded fiber burrito bowls by the end of 2020. In April 2021, the company announced it would “complete the transition” for its molded fiber kids’ trays by removing PFAS from them “by the end of 2021.”	2,580	$5.5 billion
	Freshii committed in August 2020 to transition to PFAS-free molded fiber bowls by early 2021.	411 (global)	$104.3 million (global)
	McDonald’s announced in January 2021 that it would remove added PFAS from “guest packaging materials globally by 2025.”	39,198 (global)	$100.2 billion (global)
	In March 2022 Nathan’s Famous announced it began the process of reducing the use of PFAS in its packaging for takeaway bags, containers, and other food packaging in 2019, which should be complete by the end of 2022.	217 (global)	$75.8 million (global)
	Panera Bread reported in Summer 2020 that it is working to remove PFAS from the few packages that still contain these chemicals, following up on its Fall 2019 statement that it would transition to PFAS-free baguette bags by June 2020.	2,160	$5.8 billion
	Starbucks committed in March 2022 to eliminate PFAS in its food packaging materials in the U.S. by the end of 2022 and internationally by the end of 2023.	34,000 (global)	$29.1 billion (global)
	Sweetgreen announced in March 2020 it would phase PFAS out of its molded fiber bowls by the end of 2020. In 2022 the company shared that it was still working to eliminate PFAS in some packaging and that it was in the process of introducing a PFAS-free focaccia bag by the end of the second quarter of 2022.	103	$184 million
	Taco Bell announced in January 2020 that it would remove PFAS from all of its “consumer-facing packaging materials” by 2025.	7,427 (global)	$11.7 billion (global)
	Wendy’s announced in April 2021: “we anticipate full elimination of…PFAS…from consumer-facing packaging in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2021.”	6,828 (global)	$11.3 billion (global)
TOTALS		123,534 stores	$203.2 billion in sales

Grocery chains phasing out PFAS from 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.

Retailer	Details of commitment	Number of U.S. stores2 (except as noted below)	Total annual U.S. sales2 (except as noted below)
	Ahold Delhaize, the third-largest dedicated U.S. grocery chain, announced in September 2019 its intent to restrict PFAS in private-label food packaging, but with no public timeline.	1,973	$44.7 billion
	Albertsons, the second-largest dedicated U.S. grocery chain, reported in September 2019 that it removed PFAS from certain prepared food and bakery product packaging (cake plates).	2,252	$62.4 billion
	Trader Joe’s reported in December 2018 that it is asking vendors to avoid using PFAS in the company’s packaging.	503	$13 billion
	In late 2020, Whole Foods Market adopted a restricted substance list that restricts intentionally added PFAS in all food service and exclusive brand packaging and reported that it had already discontinued or reformulated food service packaging containing intentionally added PFAS, including molded fiber plates and bowls. This followed a December 2018 statement that it removed all packaging that tested positive for likely PFAS treatment as reported in Take Out Toxics.	501 (U.S. and Canada)	$16.9 billion (U.S. and Canada)
TOTALS		5,229 stores	$137 billion in sales

Other retailers’ commitments to ban PFAS from 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.

Retailer	Details of commitment	Number of U.S. locations3 (except as noted below)	Total annual U.S. sales3 (except as noted below)
	In 2020, 7-Eleven disclosed on its website that it began replacing packaging with PFAS coatings with alternatives like molded fiber clamshells.	9,046	$18.6 billion
	In 2020, Amazon published a restricted substance list for certain private-label food-contact materials that restricts PFAS, among other chemicals and classes of chemicals as well as plastics. This applies to Amazon Kitchen-brand products sold in Amazon Go, Amazon Go Grocery, Amazon Fresh, and Fresh grocery delivery.	36	n/a
	In early 2021, Office Depot released a restricted substance list showing that PFAS is restricted in disposable foodware, furniture, and textiles.	1,307	$6 billion
	In early 2021, Rite Aid published a restricted substance list for its own-brand food-contact materials that restricts PFAS, among other chemicals and classes of chemicals.	2,461	$15.6 billion
	Staples published a restricted substance list in October 2019 that designated the PFAS class as a priority for “safer alternatives innovation” in disposable foodware, furniture, and textiles.	1,093	$6.9 billion
	In 2020, TJX announced that it plans “to switch out compostable serve-ware in our U.S. Corporate office cafeterias to ensure that the compostable serve-ware we use is free of PFAS chemicals.”	3 (Corporate office cafeterias)	n/a
TOTALS		13,946 locations	At least $47.1 billion in sales

Retailer policies to ban or restrict PFAS in textiles and other products

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.

Retailer	Details of commitment	Number of U.S. stores4	Total annual U.S. sales4
	The Home Depot, the U.S.’s largest home improvement chain, announced in September 2019 that the company will stop purchasing for distribution any carpets or rugs with PFAS by the end of 2019.	1,973	$102.1 billion
	IKEA restricted PFAS in textile materials in its products in 2016.	50	$5.3 billion
	Lowe’s, the U.S.’s second largest home improvement chain, announced a commitment in early 2021 that “All fabric protection sprays are free of PFAS chemicals” and in October 2019 stated that all indoor residential carpet and rugs bought by Lowe’s for sale in its stores would be free of PFAS by January 2020.	1,727	$65.5 billion
	In early 2021, Office Depot released a restricted substance list showing that PFAS is restricted in disposable foodware, furniture, and textiles.	1,307	$6 billion
	Patagonia updated its commitment on PFAS in 2022 sharing they “are in the process of going PFAS-free* (per and polyfluoroalkyl substances) across our entire product line by 2024.”	70 (global)	$800 million (global)
	In late 2020, REI announced it is restricting PFAS in all private-label and brand-name ski wax products and treatments for gear and clothing by spring 2023.	168	$3.1 billion
	Staples published a restricted substance list in October 2019 that designated the PFAS class as a priority for “safer alternatives innovation” in disposable foodware, furniture, and textiles.	1,093	$6.9 billion
	In 2020, Target expanded its policy to address PFAS as a class in textiles, building on its announcement that it had phased out a subset of the PFAS class from own-brand textiles. In 2021 the company announced it “just set a new goal that by 2025 we’ll seek to remove intentionally added PFAS from owned brand products including but not limited to…formulated, cosmetics, beauty and cookware items.”	1,868	$77.1 billion
TOTALS		8,256 stores	$266.8 billion in sales

Resources for more information

• Learn more about PFAS, including health concerns and how people can be exposed.
• PFAS-free food packaging alternatives are readily available. Download our fact sheet and view this more comprehensive list in Excel.
• Other PFAS-free products, including textiles, are also readily available. Read this resource from the Green Science Policy Institute.
• Read the Toxic-Free Future/Mind the Store campaign reports investigating PFAS in food packaging:
  • Packaged in Pollution, on fast-food and fast-casual food packaging (August 2020)
  • Take Out Toxics: PFAS Chemicals in Food Packaging and a follow-up study, on grocery store food packaging (December 2018, May 2019)
• Read the Toxic-Free Future report investigating PFAS in textiles:
  • Toxic Convenience: The hidden costs of forever chemicals in stain- and water-resistant products