In the on-again, off-again relationship between safety and reusable bags, NY-based Wegmans has stopped distributing a style of bag due to elevated levels of lead. According to reports, Paradigm Environmental Services recently tested an unknown number of green, red, black and purple colored Wegmans bags for heavy metals. At least one green bag was found to have a lead level of 799 ppm – exceeding the NY state allowable level of 100ppm for packaging. The issue is around the disposal of the lead-containing bags – not holding or storing food in them.
Judy Braiman, president of the Empire State Consumer Project and Rochesterians Against Misuse of Pesticides, alludes to a food safety concern with the bags by saying there’s a possibility of exposure if the bags become worn over time, “It’s lead, and lead is toxic. Why take the risk?”.jpg)
While Wegmans has announced that they will replace customer’s pea green and Holiday 2009 bags as a precaution.
Wegmans will post notices in its 76 stores and on a website as soon as today, offering consumers a replacement, Jo Natale, a company spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview. More than 725,000 bags were sold at stores in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland, she said.
“This is not a food-safety issue,” Natale said. “It does not present a public-health risk. Even so, we are very committed to the environment, to sustainability, and decided to err on the side of caution.”