To my knowledge, there are no federal regulations regarding 'mulches' per se. There are regulations with respect to compost and in some cases, state or county regulations concerning mulch (particularly as it applies to municipal applications).

FWIW, "cedar" mulch is not even made out of cedar (Cedrus species). It is often made from Eastern red "cedar" - Juniperus virginian - or Western red "cedar" - Thuja plicata. Kinda hard to regulate anything that isn't even made in any degree from what it is labeled!!

The same is true for cypress mulch - they now call it a blend. I found (smelled) oak mixed in, not to say there wasn't other wood. I have always used cypress as it has been touted as less attractive to termites (but not termite proof). Now with the other woods mixed in...
hortster

When I hear the word "cedar," I automatically think of cedar trees, so I assume that cedar mulch is made from cedar trees, and the companies who produce "cedar" mulch probably know that. So when I purchase a bag of cedar mulch, what I think I'm purchasing is not really what I'm purchasing. LOL! That's pretty sneaky.
Oh...I'm never paying a penny for cedar mulch again.

I was given this very helpful website about mulch in the shrubs section of Garden Web.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood Chip Mulch by Linda Chalker-Scott, Ph.D.

Well, "cedar" is a much misused word in the plant kingdom :-) Just like "pine", which often gets bandied around for application to any needled conifer, so does cedar. But there are only a couple of species of true cedar, none native to the US, and most certainly NOT used to make mulch!

To their defense, the companies bagging and selling 'cedar' mulch are only labeling it in the common terminology that most of the gardening world applies to 'cedar'.

What gardengal said!!

No doubt Wal-Mart is buying that from a regional supplier who puts it in Wal-Mart bags for them.

Just like anything else, if you're unhappy with the product, take it back, complain and ask for your money back. Make a specific complaint that it is not as advertised and appears to have painted wood and pressboard in it. I would also complain at the corporate level on their website, so it doesn't just stop at the store manager level. Because what they will likely do is throw out the bag you brought back, refund your money and forget about it.

BTW, I am not sure it is OK for them to include painted wood - even if it does not have lead in it. And if there is any obviously treated wood, that gives me pause. I am not sure how EPA looks at this, or your state's env. agency, but it may not be considered clean material for reuse. It may be regulated as a waste and should not be used for mulch.

They don't even have to disclose everything about FOOD so you think anyone really gives a rat's posterior parts about what is in a bag of mulch?

...and why is the debris always BLUE?

I've found this stuff in bags from Maxway before, too. The bag was extremely heavy and was labeled "professional potting soil." It was nothing but shredded wood with a lot of blue paint among the giant pieces, some other bits of trash, like clearly distinguishable food wrappers and other not-wood stuff. Sounds a lot like your "cedar mulch."

I think I have an idea about the blue paint.

What concerns me is where these come from, and who painted them, with what.

Here is a link that might be useful: These Are Blue

I found one story (posted in 2002 so admittedly old) that indicates a company called CHEP is (was) the 400 lb gorilla of pallets. They paint theirs blue and insist that they be returned. There have even been lawsuits where CHEP accused pallet recyclers, who get their pallets by the truckload from other people, of stealing their blue pallets.

Anyway, I suspect damaged or scrap pallets are being shredded for mulch and potting mixes, and that's where the blue comes from.

The article from Pallet Enterprise magazine (linked below) also says CHEP has a close relationship with Wal-mart

Here is a link that might be useful: Pallet Enterprise CHEP piece (2002)

I'm pretty sure that pallets are made of treated wood. Now whether or not that wood treatment is harmful to plants is an entirely different question.
Since I have found a source of unlimited free wood mulch, I will never buy a bag of wood mulch again. And based on what other people are posting here on the Garden Web, I'm pretty sure that the quality of my free mulch is no worse than the quality of what I can buy in the bags.

I have not seen anything like treated wood, and I've seen and handled a lot of pallets. Even disassembled many to reuse the wood. Occasionally I'll see some greenish wood but it's poplar.

Here in MO they make a lot of pallets out of oak, sad to say. The oak forests in the southern half of the state are logged quite a bit, and the knotty stuff goes to pallet factories. Truckloads of pallets come north out of the Ozarks. They are definitely not treated, just fresh red and white oak.

I'd be interested in more information about this if you have a different experience in your area.

Well, I know that international standards require pallets to be heat or chemically treated to help prevent the spread of invasive species of insects and mold. Below is a link to a PDF document of these standards. This doesn't mean that all pallets are chemically treated, but I don't know if the mulching companies actually check to see if they are before they turn them into mulching material.
As far as the pallets you are handling, I don't know if you can tell by looking at the color of the wood whether they have been treated or not. If you see the letters "MB" stamped or wood-burned somewhere on them then they have definitely been treated with Methyl bromide.

Here is a link that might be useful: International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs)

Pallets are made out of scrap or junk wood......lumber that is not up to grade or suitable for a more "finished" product. Highly unlikely to be treated. FWIW, treated wood products can only be sold with labeling/marketing and availability to MSDS that indicates such.

Unless they're being used to ship products from other countries into the U.S. or vice versa.
I've handeled many pallets with jobs I've worked for in the past, and I've personally seen the "HT" and "MB" stamps on some of them. I would wonder what that meant, and now I know it indicates how they were treated.

HT is probably heat treated, i.e. steamed, which of course would leave no residue.

I learn something new here all the time, and I did not know that Methyl bromide is used for pallet treatment, but it is. According to Wiki,

"Bromomethane is the only fumigant allowed (heat treatment is only other option) under ISPM 15 regulations when exporting solid wood packaging (forklift pallets, crates, bracing) to ISPM 15 compliant countries."

ISPM being the intl standard for 'phytosanitation' which I assume prevents the spread of plant diseases.

It's a gas, and I wouldn't expect it to stick around much after doing its work. Although it is toxic. It's also a powerful ozone depleter, so use is going down, but it's still used on pallets.

So far I don't see anything here that would be a risk with respect to mulch.

Shipping pallets usually are made of scrap wood and may or not be treated, especially if they will be used for international trade. It is suspected that several of our invasive insect species arrived in wooden shipping pallets from their native countries. I have seen pallets made of Oak, Maple, Beech, Douglas Fir, and several other scraps of wood species. I jave seen shipping pallets that have been fumigated, but to raise the temperature of a wood pallet high enough to kill insects that might be inside would most likely cause charring.
Most wood pallets are cheap enough to manufacture that shipping them back is not worth the cost. There are, however, some where more time and energy, and wood species, make them worthwhile returning and reusing.