Walmart U.S., Sam's Club Set Full Ingredient Disclosure Goals

As part of the goals of the Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club U.S. policy on sustainable chemistry in consumables, the group said it is going beyond the minimum requirements for full ingredient disclosure including fragrance ingredients. 

In its report, Walmart said it recognizes that best-in-class online disclosure often goes beyond the minimum recommendations found in the guides listed above, and includes additional ingredient information, such as the following: ingredient CAS numbers; full disclosure of all ingredients including those typically protected under trade secrets (e.g. fragrances); known residuals, contaminants and by-products; identification of ingredient function and uses; product formula number; hazard information (e.g. MSDS/SDS data); priority chemicals that have been removed from the product or portfolio of products, in conformance with the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Green Guides. 

Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club U.S. said they also will strive towards formulating and labeling its private brand products in accordance with the U.S. EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) program, beginning in January 2014 with cleaning products and expanding to other categories as the program grows.

"The U.S. EPA’s Design for Environment (DfE) Safer Product Labeling Program is an authoritative voluntary program that reviews the safety of products by evaluating their individual ingredients against transparent, scientifically-based criteria. Products that earn the DfE label have had every ingredient (including fragrances and other ingredients that are covered as trade secrets) evaluated for human health and environmental effects using the most current information, predictive modeling tools and expert judgment," the report said. 

By acquiring a DfE label, a product proves that it contains the safest possible ingredients for its function, the group added. Click here to view the full report.