Customer Updates
1. A Note To Our Customers About Sunshine Extra Large Eggs
August 14, 2010
To Our Valued Customers:
We have been alerted by the supplier of Sunshine Extra Large Eggs (sku 01175) that there is a possibility the product purchased only in our Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada stores may cause a food-borne illness. As a precaution, all codes of the product have been removed from sale and destroyed.
If you purchased this item, please do not eat it. You may return the product to any Trader Joe's for a full refund or dispose of it.
Please note, no other eggs sold by Trader Joe's are affected by this recall.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.
2. Beware of Bogus Trader Joe's Gift Card Offers Online
To our valued customers: It has been brought to our attention that an organization has appropriated our name in association with an offering for a $500 Trader Joe's Gift Card in order to phish for information. Trader Joe's has NO association with this organization and we are actively attempting to get our name removed from these misleading promotions.
Please be aware that we do not do any advertising or promotions on the Internet. The only means we use to communicate with our customers online is via our website, www.traderjoes.com, and our e-newsletter, which you will only receive if you have elected to via our "Newsletter Sign-up." We protect the privacy of the information our customers share with us, and we will never ask for our customers to provide any personal or financial details in our communications.
3. A Note to Our Customers About Trader Joe's Seafood
3/23/10 Update:
In our efforts to offer seafood options that fit customer needs ranging from food safety and taste, to concern over the environment, we have established the following goal: all of our seafood purchases will shift to sustainable sources by December 31, 2012. This applies to all formats of seafood we offer: frozen, fresh, canned, etc.
We are working with third-party, science-based organizations to establish definitions and parameters for this goal.
It is our intent to have this goal function as a seafood policy that addresses customer concerns including the issues of over fishing, destructive catch or production methods, and the importance of marine reserves.
We aim to use our purchasing power to leverage change within the seafood supply community.
We support leaders within the industry who are making positive efforts to "get off the red list" (e.g. freshwater farmed salmon, closed-containment farmed shrimp).
In addition to the mandatory Country of Origin and Wild/Farm-Raised information currently provided on our seafood labels, we are in the process of enhancing our package labeling for all seafood items to include information on species' Latin names, origin and catch or production method.
Based on customer feedback and in support of our work to source sustainable seafood, we stopped selling Chilean Sea Bass in 2005, Orange Roughy in July of 2009, and Red Snapper in March of 2010.
As with all the decisions we make about the products we offer, this is an ongoing process. We look forward to sharing updates on this work in the near future.
4. Trader Joe's Products are Sourced from Non-GMO Ingredients
Our customers can be assured that all products in Trader Joe's private label are sourced from non-genetically modified ingredients. Our efforts began in 2001, when we determined that, given a choice, our customers would prefer to eat foods and beverages made without the use of genetically engineered ingredients. Our process has been to identify any product containing ingredients that could potentially be derived from genetically engineered crops and work with our suppliers to replace offending ingredients with acceptable alternatives.
5. What can I do to keep my pets safe from potentially harmful plants?
Some pets have a penchant for chewing on plants! Being naturally curious and not always as persnickety about what they eat, pets will often chew on plants that are NOT safe to eat.
To ensure the safety of your pets, it is important to be able to identify the plants in your home and yard, to know what plants to keep out of your pets' reach and to be aware of what the consequences are if your pet were to ingest a harmful plant.
There are many resources available via your veterinary and other animal-focused organizations that will help you learn more about how to keep your plants and pets in harmony. Want to get started now? Check out: http://www.sniksnak.com/plants.html * The more you know, the safer your pets will be.
*Trader Joe's has no affiliation with sniksnak.com
6. A Message to Customers Regarding Canadian Seafood and the Seal Hunt Issue
The Issue: It's been reported that some fishermen off Canada's East coast near Newfoundland kill baby seals in the off-season from fishing.
We looked into this, and we think it's important to tell you that we do not purchase any seafood items from the areas where the killing of seals is taking place. Our seafood products that are labeled "Product of Canada," come from reputable suppliers on Canada's West coast, or come from Alaska and are simply processed on Canada's West coast. None of these suppliers are involved in the seal hunt. In addition, we have no plans to purchase any seafood products from the East coast of Canada.
7. A Note About Eggs
At Trader Joe's we listen to what our customers tell us about the choices we give them. Thanks to their valued feedback, in 2005 we made an important change in our egg selection. As of this time, all Trader Joe's brand eggs come only from cage-free hens. Now customers looking for cage-free eggs need to look no further than the Trader Joe's label. Any conventional eggs sold in our stores are in a brand name carton, not under the Trader Joe's label.
