CVS Removes Chemicals in Store Brand Products

 On April 19th, CVS Pharmacy made a huge announcement! They are responding to concerns raised by consumers and are advancing efforts to remove parabens, phthalates and the most prevalent formaldehyde donors from their extensive line of store brand beauty, and personal care products.

This list tops out at almost 600 beauty and personal care products, so this is great news for those who would like to see more products offered without these added chemicals.  Store brands included are CVS Health, Beauty 360, Essence of Beauty, and Blade Products.  The Promise Organic store brand currently does not contain these chemicals either.  By 2019 all shipping of store brands which do NOT meet the new standard will be ceased.

This news is also great motivation for consumer groups, since the customer feedback has helped to drive this change.  According to their press release, “CVS Health has engaged with the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF) coalition and its Mind the Store campaign, an organization working to reduce the use of toxic chemicals in consumer products, strengthen the understanding of chemicals of consumer concern and inform opportunities for retailers to advance chemical safety in consumer products.”

“This announcement is an exciting milestone not only for CVS Health, but for retailers and the role they play in driving change toward safer consumer products,” said Mike Schade, Mind the Store campaign director for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. “We applaud CVS Health for the action it is taking today and we look forward to continued collaboration ahead.  We hope other retailers will follow suit.”  You can search for more on Mind the Store on social media with hashtag #MindTheStore.

For more information on CVS Health’s Corporate Social Responsibility program,  head over here.