The Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and The Ocean Foundation (TOF) yesterday commended Whole Foods Market for requiring its farmed seafood suppliers to undergo an independent, third-party audit against new internal aquaculture standards to ensure the product it sells is raised in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
However, the environmental groups, which evaluated Whole Foods' standards against its recently published Gold Standard for Aquaculture Eco-label Design, also said there's room for improvement.
The world's largest natural foods retailer adopted the standards in mid-July, though it already had standards in place prohibiting the use of antibiotics, growth hormones, preservatives like sulfites and genetically modified seafood.
The new standards include the following requirements:
• Producers must minimize the environmental impacts of fish farming by protecting sensitive habitats such as mangrove forests and wetlands, monitoring water quality to prevent pollution and sourcing feed ingredients responsibly
• Producers must pass independent, third-party audits
• Hatcheries, fish farmers and processors must provide farm-to-fork product traceability
• Substances such as malachite green and organophosphate pesticides are prohibited
ELI and TOF recommend that Whole Foods ensure that its standards are fully sustainable and in compliance with international standards.
"Compliance with Food and Agriculture Organization standards would ensure that the standards will produce meaningful improvement at the farm," says TOF President Mark Spalding.
ELI and TOF also suggested that Whole Foods publish its procedures for establishing standards and certifying producers to enhance their credibility.
"Without clear procedures, the Whole Foods standards lack the transparency, participation and accountability necessary to assure credibility," says Kathryn Mengerink, director of ELI's Ocean Program.
The Austin, Texas-based retailer operates 270 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and reported fiscal 2007 sales of nearly $6.6 billion.
