[Press Release] Burger King leadership addresses PFAS “forever chemicals” in food packaging for first time ever

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families | June 16, 2021

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“WASHINGTON, D.C.—At the annual shareholders meeting held today, Jose Cils, CEO of Restaurant Brands International (parent company of Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes), publicly addressed the issue of toxic PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) chemicals in its food packaging materials for the first time.

Mr. Cils acknowledged that PFAS chemicals are a ‘nonstick substance that creates a barrier so that food doesn’t leak through the packaging’ and went on to state that ‘our procurement and brand teams are looking at several alternatives to still achieve the leak barrier that we want without using the PFAS chemical.’ Mr. Cils stated that, ‘there’s more work to be done in 2021 on this task but results have been positive, and we plan to share more details in the next few months about our packaging roadmap as it relates to PFAS.‘ (emphasis added) The company also shared that Tim Hortons has developed and evaluated PFAS-free materials over the last year including a vegetable-based additive.

In response, the Mind the Store campaign and Toxic-Free Future released the following statements:

‘We are disappointed that Burger King and RBI still have not adopted a policy to phase out and ban PFAS,’ says Mike Schade, Mind the Store campaign director. ‘We’re encouraged to hear the company is investigating alternatives, is beginning to make headway, and has promised to share their progress in the months ahead. We hope they move quickly to phase out and ban PFAS. Competitors like Wendy’s have already committed to doing this by the end of 2021, and Burger King should be no different. Any alternatives that they use must be fully disclosed to ensure we’re not replacing one toxic chemical with another…’”

This content provided by the PFAS Project.