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Supply Chain

Target Expands List of Chemicals It Wants Out of Consumer Goods

By Steve Wynne-Jones
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Target Expands List of Chemicals It Wants Out of Consumer Goods

Target has expanded the list of chemicals it wants suppliers to take out of their products, stepping up pressure on its vendors to respond to consumer health concerns.

The list includes almost 600 substances on Health Canada’s roster of prohibited cosmetic ingredients, such as coal tars and bisphenol A. It also adds triclosan, an antibacterial ingredient that is under review in hand soaps and sanitizers by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and was banned from products in Target’s home state last year.

Target made the changes earlier this year without publicizing them, but a Washington-based advocacy group called Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families plans to spotlight the list this week. Though Target isn’t prohibiting the ingredients outright, the move gives consumer-products companies fresh incentives to identify and eliminate controversial substances. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has a similar program for manufacturers, including a list of substances that the retailer doesn’t post publicly.

For suppliers, complying with Target’s program is a way to get more exposure. In exchange for cooperating, the retailer may be inclined to help promote their products or give them more shelf space. Target declined to discuss the exact rewards involved.

The Minneapolis-based company calls the list its Product Sustainability Index, and it rates various items sold at the retailer. Target awards points to products for having ingredients listed on packaging and online and not including substances with a “high level of health concern.” The scoring applies to cleaning, beauty, baby-care and personal-care products. Target also just expanded the categories to include feminine care.

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Bloomberg News, edited by ESM

 

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