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Maine Attorney General Asked to Take Legal Action Against Goya Foods & Constellation Brands

Portland, Maine — Today, a nationally recognized public health organization is demanding that Maine enforce state law and take action against two major multinational food and beverage brands that the organization says it can prove are in violation.

Defend Our Health has formally asked Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey to begin immediate enforcement action against two major food and beverage companies that are violating Maine’s ban on the use of highly toxic chemicals known as phthalates in food packaging, which took effect on January 1, 2022. The group’s letter to the Attorney General asks for “your leadership in ensuring strict and fair enforcement of Maine law to protect consumers, public health, and the environment as fully intended by the Maine Legislature.”

Based on recent test results, Goya Foods, Inc. and Constellation Brands beverages, were both found in violation of Maine’s ban on phthalates in food packaging. Earlier this year, Defend Our Health purchased 82 food and beverage products in Maine from 14 food and beverage companies. The food packaging was tested for phthalates at laboratories operated by the Ecology Center and Bentley University.

The packaging of Goya Foods tested positive for phthalates in all ten of its food and beverage products sampled. The packaging of Constellation Brand’s Corona Extra beer tested positive for phthalates in three products sampled. Phthalates are added to the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic used in the gasket that seals glass jars and bottles to metal lids and caps.

“These market laggards have no excuse. They had nearly two and a half years to come into compliance, and phthalate-free packaging is widely available,” said Maya Rommwatt, senior market campaigner at Defend Our Health. “Alternatives are readily available and already in use by most brands. Clinging to their toxic packaging is not only a bad deal for consumers, it violates Maine law.”

“Our environmental justice communities have a multitude of toxic chemical exposure. Recently, we found that 10 products manufactured and sold by Goya–a company whose primary target consumers are Latinos/Latinas–contain toxic phthalates. Shame on you, Goya, for adding to our unwarranted chemical trespass,” said Jose Bravo, National Coordinator of the Campaign for Heathier Solutions.

In contrast, several market leaders, including Hannaford (a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize) and Nestlé, have timely phased out all use of phthalates in food packaging, and have taken a major step further. Both have also pledged to eliminate all use of PVC (vinyl) plastic in their packaging by 2025. PVC is one of several problematic and unnecessary materials that corporate endorsers of the U.S. Plastics Pact have committed to eliminate in packaging by 2025.

And other market leaders have proven that the switch to phthalate free alternatives can happen and happen quickly: 

“There really wasn’t a decision to make. It’s not like we could even consider continuing to use caps that we had learned could pose a potential toxics risk. I would hope that any food manufacturer would feel the same way,” said Matt Thomas, founder of Brew Dr Kombucha. “You have to always put safety first, and build a business around that.”

In 2019, Maine passed An Act to Protect the Environment and Public Health by Further Reducing Toxic Chemicals in Packaging, a first-in-the-nation law to ban phthalates and restrict other toxic chemicals such as PFAS in food packaging.

Exposure to phthalates poses a serious threat to reproductive health linked to lowered fertility later in life. Phthalate exposure also harms brain development in babies and young children, causing symptoms of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), behavioral problems, and other learning disabilities. 

**A previous version of the press release had Anheuser Busch incorrectly designated as the current brand owner of the Corona Extra sold in the US.