Campaign for Healthier Solutions: Dollar Tree Customers Confront Executives At Shareholder Meeting Asking For Nontoxic Products

CHESAPEAKE, Va., June 21, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Dollar Tree executives did not commit to meeting with a coalition of Dollar Tree stock owners and customers, nor did they answer their concerns about high levels of hazardous chemicals found in some of the discount retailer's products.  The Campaign for Healthier Solutions, a coalition of public health and community groups, attended the company's shareholder meeting to urge the discount chain to do more to reduce customer's exposure to toxic chemicals, especially in communities already overburdened by toxic chemical exposure, and to share what they are doing with the public.  Following the shareholder meeting, activists held a rally featuring large 'silly-straws' and costume jewelry - two product types tested by independent labs and found to contain toxic chemicals at potentially hazardous levels.  The campaign, accompanied by about a dozen customers, also delivered 150,000 petition signatures gathered urging the chain to reduce or eliminate hazardous chemicals in products they sell.  Other retail stores, such as Target, Walmart, and Costco, have set publicly available and more protective policies to limit toxic chemical exposure, but so far Dollar Tree has failed to follow suit.  Campaign members noted that this inaction leaves Dollar Tree drifting further behind competitors in meeting consumer expectations for product safety.

Jose Bravo, Coordinator of the Campaign for Healthier Solutions said, "Today, unfortunately, Dollar Tree executives failed to acknowledge or address the obvious fact that consumers are deeply concerned about the safety of their products.  They missed another opportunity to announce open and transparent chemical safety policies which could help restore consumer confidence in their brand.  Until Dollar Tree acts, their customers who can't choose to buy healthier food, face overlapping chemical exposures from industry, or have no option but to bring home products which may make them sick – will..." 

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SOURCE Campaign for Healthier Solutions