Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) secured a settlement requiring Sprouts Farmers Market to stop using ProduceMaxx on produce nationwide, including synthetic antimicrobial treatments on organic produce.
What does the settlement require?
Sprouts has agreed to stop spraying ProduceMaxx on all produce, including conventional and non-organic produce, across its stores nationwide. The company will also stop using ProduceMaxx or other synthetic antimicrobial pesticides on organic produce through misting or other treatments. The agreement takes effect within 90 days.
The settlement follows a Texas investigation announced in January 2026 into grocery stores' use of synthetic pesticides on organic produce. Paxton's office raised concerns that ProduceMaxx was being used through misting systems and other treatments, including washing and "crisping," without consumers' knowledge.
ProduceMaxx is an EPA-registered antimicrobial pesticide whose active ingredient is hypochlorous acid. The EPA product label identifies the product as containing 0.45 hypochlorous acid.
What did Paxton say?
AG Ken Paxton: "My office has now added Sprouts to the list of grocery stores that we have forced to stop secretly misting organic produce with synthetic pesticides. I will continue to protect consumers and ensure transparency, so that Texans can trust they are buying clean products."
Paxton previously reached a settlement with Albertsons-owned grocery chains in Texas that stopped the use of ProduceMaxx and other synthetic antimicrobial pesticides in misting systems on organic produce.
The Bottom Line
The Sprouts settlement expands restrictions beyond Texas, requiring the grocery chain to end ProduceMaxx use on produce nationwide and prohibit synthetic antimicrobial pesticide treatments on organic produce.
