Overview
- The Texas attorney general filed an assurance of voluntary compliance that requires Albertsons-owned stores in Texas to stop misting organic produce with any synthetic antimicrobial pesticide and to cease using ProduceMaxx within 90 days.
- The product at issue, sold as ProduceMaxx, is a chlorine-based antimicrobial that contains hypochlorous acid and is used by some grocers to control bacteria and extend shelf life on displayed produce.
- The legal document also requires employees to rinse organic items with drinkable water after any pesticide treatment, a step that federal organic guidance says should follow chlorine-based sprays.
- Albertsons denied wrongdoing and said it complies with applicable law, while Paxton hailed the Tuesday agreement as a consumer-protection victory and signaled possible further scrutiny of other retailers.
- The settlement could affect what shoppers expect when they buy certified organic produce and may prompt other grocers to review misting and post-treatment rinse practices to avoid enforcement or public scrutiny.