Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a settlement with Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. that ensures none of the grocer’s produce will be misted with the synthetic antimicrobial pesticide ProduceMaxx, according to a Sept. 21 news release from the Office of the Attorney General. The agreement applies to all Sprouts locations nationwide.
The settlement follows an investigation into grocery stores across Texas that Paxton announced in January 2026, the release said. According to the agency, the investigation was launched over concerns that synthetic pesticides such as ProduceMaxx were being misted on organic produce.
ProduceMaxx is an EPA-registered antimicrobial pesticide containing hypochlorous acid, a chlorine-based compound, the release said. According to the Attorney General’s office, thousands of grocery stores across the United States have engaged in off-label use of ProduceMaxx in produce misting systems to allegedly control bacteria and extend shelf life, and the product was additionally being used to treat organic produce through washing and “crisping” without consumers’ knowledge.
Under the settlement, Sprouts has agreed to stop spraying ProduceMaxx on all produce, including conventional non-organic produce, nationwide. The company will also cease any use, whether by misting or otherwise, of ProduceMaxx or any other synthetic antimicrobial pesticide on all organic produce nationwide, the release said. The agreement takes effect within 90 days.
“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,” Paxton said in the release. “I will continue to protect consumers and ensure transparency, so that Texans can trust that they are buying clean products.”
The Sprouts agreement follows an earlier settlement Paxton reached with all Albertsons-owned grocery stores across Texas, according to the release. That settlement stopped those stores from using ProduceMaxx or any other synthetic antimicrobial pesticide in misting systems on organic produce and requires employees to complete a potable water rinse on all organic produce after any other ProduceMaxx treatment.
The Attorney General’s office said the Sprouts settlement is documented in an assurance of voluntary compliance, which it has made available to the public.