{"id":5997,"date":"2023-10-23T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/?p=5997"},"modified":"2023-10-27T19:49:23","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T00:49:23","slug":"toxin-free-usa-sues-cava-for-food-containing-pesticides-and-food-packaging-containing-pfas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/toxin-free-usa-sues-cava-for-food-containing-pesticides-and-food-packaging-containing-pfas\/","title":{"rendered":"Toxin Free USA Sues CAVA for Food Containing Pesticides and Food Packaging Containing PFAS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Toxin Free USA Sues CAVA Restaurants for Food Containing Pesticides &amp; Food Packaging Containing PFAS\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3ONUjjTNm-8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Click on the video to watch or listen to the press release<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Washington, DC, October 23, 2023 \u2014 Toxin Free USA, a nonprofit dedicated to consumer protection and education, filed a lawsuit against Cava Group, Inc., a restaurant chain specializing in Mediterranean food, alleging deceptive marketing of its food and business practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CAVA prominently advertises its food as \u201chealthy\u201d and its business as environmentally sustainable. CAVA\u2019s mission statement is \u201cto bring heart, health, and humanity to food.\u201d CAVA also states, \u201cWe believe in: Serving delicious food that helps more people eat well and live well. Taking care of the people and things that feed us: the earth, farmers, purveyors, and team members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, Toxin Free USA facilitated pesticide residue testing of CAVA\u2019s cabbage slaw, lentils, pitas, pita chips, and rice and found various biocides, including glyphosate, imazalil, isoprothiolane, piperonyl butoxide, tebuconazole, and tricyclazole. Glyphosate in particular is a pesticide that over <a href=\"https:\/\/gmoresearch.org\/?s=glyphosate&amp;asp_active=1&amp;p_asid=1&amp;p_asp_data=1&amp;asp_gen%5b%5d=excerpt&amp;asp_gen%5b%5d=content&amp;asp_gen%5b%5d=title&amp;customset%5b%5d=gmo_article&amp;filters_initial=1&amp;filters_changed=0&amp;qtranslate_lang=0&amp;current_page_id=2570\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1,000 peer-reviewed studies<\/a> have linked to health and environmental harms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, lab tests of its grain and salad bowls by Toxic-Free Future revealed high levels of organic fluorine, an indicator that a product contains PFAS, a class of toxic chemicals that peer-reviewed studies have linked to cancer, autoimmune disease, thyroid disease, liver damage, high blood pressure, obesity, hormone disruption, decreased immunity, decreased fertility, and birth defects and harmful developmental effects in infants. Subsequent testing by Consumer Reports found high levels of organic fluorine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Toxin Free USA commissioned additional testing and also found organic fluorine in CAVA\u2019s bowls. PFAS chemicals are known to migrate from food packaging to food, exposing consumers to these toxic chemicals. Food packaging made with PFAS cannot be safely composted and pollutes soil and water when disposed of in a landfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/foodinsight.org\/2021-food-health-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2021 Food &amp; Health Survey<\/a> by Food Insight, chemicals in food represent the most important food safety issue to consumers. Consumers rated this concern more highly than any other, including foodborne illness from bacteria. Toxin Free USA alleges that CAVA is misleading health-conscious consumers with its advertising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFood and products containing toxic PFAS chemicals and toxic pesticides such as glyphosate are neither healthy nor environmentally sustainable. If CAVA really wants to \u2018take care of the Earth\u2019, the company must remove these chemicals from their products. CAVA must stop greenwashing,\u201d said Diana Reeves, Executive Director of Toxin Free USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The CAVA suit, filed under the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act, seeks to end CAVA\u2019s deceptive marketing. Toxin Free USA is represented by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.richmanlawpolicy.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Richman Law &amp; Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/TFUSA-v.-CAVA_Complaint-Package-eServed.pdf\">Read the full CAVA complaint here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Press inquiries contact:<br>Luan Van Le, 347-921-1466, info@gmofreeusa.org<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>###<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>GMO\/Toxin Free USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocating for a clean, healthy food system and environment, non-toxic consumer products, and educating consumers about the hazards of GMOs, synthetic pesticides and other toxins. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.toxinfreeusa.org\">www.toxinfreeusa.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Washington, DC, October 23, 2023 \u2014 Toxin Free USA, a nonprofit dedicated to consumer protection and education, filed a lawsuit against Cava Group, Inc., a restaurant chain specializing in Mediterranean food, alleging deceptive marketing of its food and business practices. CAVA prominently advertises its food as \u201chealthy\u201d and its business as environmentally &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"2":"type-post","6":"category-press-releases","7":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5997"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6003,"href":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5997\/revisions\/6003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toxinfreeusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}