Wendy's PFAS Elimination: What It Took and How Your Restaurant Can Follow

Wendy’s publicly reported that, as of the end of 2021, no customer-facing packaging it identified as intentionally containing PFAS was sourced for its U.S. and Canada restaurants. Its public reports show a time-bound policy, a restricted-substances approach and consultation with suppliers and other stakeholders—not a published, supplier-by-supplier playbook. For a restaurant buyer, the useful lesson is to turn a broad PFAS request into a defined, finished-item specification with written evidence, change control and real-use acceptance checks.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Wendy’s 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report uses careful language. It says that, as of the end of 2021, no customer-facing packaging identified as intentionally containing PFAS was sourced for its U.S. and Canada restaurants.

That is a meaningful sourcing statement, but it is not the same as a claim that every package was tested to prove zero PFAS. It is also limited to the stated geography, the stated point in time and the company’s identified customer-facing packaging. Those qualifiers are worth preserving when you write your own requirement.

Wendy’s 2020 report described a cross-functional team that spent more than six months consulting internal and external stakeholders, including suppliers, third-party partners and academic institutions. The report also said the company was establishing a restricted substances list in the United States and anticipated eliminating PFAS from consumer-facing packaging in the United States and Canada by the end of 2021.

The following year’s report says the company was working with key partners on the intentional use of known chemicals of concern in customer packaging and reported the 2021 sourcing outcome.

The public material does not identify every supplier, approved material, commercial term, test method or individual supplier objection. It does not document a list of negotiation problems that a small restaurant can copy. Treating those details as known would turn a public case into a fictional playbook.

For a restaurant buyer, the practical next step is to define the scope, state the chemical requirement, engage the supply chain, and keep the requirement tied to the finished package rather than a generic material description. That is buyer guidance, not a disclosed Wendy’s supplier playbook.

Yes—but the goal is not to imitate a large chain’s scale. The goal is to build controls that match the exact item you buy.

Name the SKU, size, format, intended food, serving temperature, destination market and the food-contact surfaces. For a paper or molded-fiber item, include the fiber body, any coating or treatment, printed inks and adhesives in the request. A claim about “paper” alone does not establish the status of the complete food-contact item.

Ask the supplier to state in writing whether PFAS are intentionally added to the identified finished item and its relevant food-contact components. Keep the wording tied to the SKU, factory, revision and market. If the supplier uses terms such as “PFAS-free,” ask what the term means, what it covers and when the statement was issued.

“Intentionally added” and “not detected” answer different questions. Do not replace one with the other, and do not turn either one into a blanket promise for every product the supplier makes.

Request the documents that support the claim for the specific product, not a general company brochure or a document for a different substrate. The file should identify the product and its relevant components, intended use and destination market. Keep the supplier’s declaration together with the product specification and any applicable food-contact documentation.

Record the supplier, manufacturing site when available, product revision, document date and lot or production reference when available. Require notice before a change to the fiber, coating, treatment, print process, ink, adhesive or factory. A material change can change what evidence needs review.

Before a broader purchase, review representative samples with the foods and service conditions you expect. Set your own acceptance criteria for handling, grease exposure, filling, closing and delivery. Document the result as an operational acceptance check; it does not convert a limited sample review into a general chemical guarantee.

No. In February 2024, the FDA announced that manufacturers were no longer selling PFAS-containing grease-proofing agents for food-contact use in the United States. The agency later described the related market phase-out and the status of the relevant food-contact notifications.

That federal update is important context for U.S. paper and paperboard packaging, but it is not a substitute for a product-level purchasing record. It does not tell you the scope of a supplier’s statement for a particular finished item, the item’s destination-market requirements or whether your current specification has changed. Confirm the requirements that apply where the package will be used and sold.

Use this as a starting point and complete the brackets before sending it:

For SKU [SKU and description], intended for [food/use] in [destination market], please provide a signed, dated statement stating whether PFAS are intentionally added to the finished food-contact item and its relevant food-contact components. Please identify the covered components, including any coating, treatment, ink and adhesive; the factory or production source; the applicable product revision; and the statement’s effective date. Please also provide the food-contact documentation applicable to this intended market. Please notify us before changing a covered material, component, production site or product revision.

If the answer is only a marketing label, ask again for a SKU-level declaration and its scope. If the documents cover only the base material, ask whether they also cover the completed, printed or coated item you will receive.

It does not guarantee a universal outcome. A supplier declaration, a product specification and a limited sample review each have a different purpose. Together, they create a clearer record for a defined buying decision and make unsupported wording easier to stop before it reaches an order or artwork.

Start with one finished item, one destination market and one written evidence request. Visit takeawaypack.com.