Consumers Deserve Strong Organic Standards for Cosmetics
and Skin Care
Most 'Organic' Cosmetics Labels Mislead Public
Monday, August 18, 2003 Adam Eidinger 202-744-2671http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/organic_standards_cosmetics.cfm
WASHINGTON, DC -Scores of "natural" cosmetic companies
will be in Washington, DC September 5-7 for the Natural Products Expo East,
the largest natural products trade show on the East Coast. While most
companies that sell increasingly popular "natural" soaps, shampoos and skin
creams in natural supermarkets such as Whole Foods and Trader Joes do not
claim their products are "organic," an increasing number of these brands,
such as Avalon Natural Products, JASON, and Nature's Gate, are misleading
consumers into thinking up to 70% of such products are in fact "organic."
The body care companies in question claim that "organic
floral waters" are somehow key functional components of their products.
However, floral waters, that are also called "hydrosols," did not exist as
an ingredient in body care formulations until companies started to use them
to make fraudulent, inflated "organic" claims. Not only is the presence of
these hydrosols largely inconsequential, their actual organic content is
minimal since they are mostly ordinary distilled water. Nonetheless, various
so-called "natural" body care manufacturers are using these waters to
green-wash their products and make organic label claims, even though their
formulations are in fact largely composed of the same conventional synthetic
cleansers, conditioners and preservatives found in mainstream products.
These companies assert "70% organic ingredients" on their labels and
advertising to mislead consumers into thinking that they are buying mostly
organic products when they assuredly are not.
Similar to an infusion or tea, which is made by boiling
botanical material in water, floral waters are made by steaming plants, and
then cooling the steam back to water. Products made with infusions or teas
cannot count the water in such teas or infusions as organic in calculating
organic content under NOP food standards. However, it has become
distressingly common practice to use "Steam Tea" as the main "organic"
ingredient in many personal care products by misleadingly counting the
ordinary water in such "Steam Teas" as organic.
The fraudulent practice of counting such water as
"organic" in some major companies' body care products has been getting a lot
of attention in mainstream press, from The New York Times and Los Angeles
Times to Consumer Reports. The OCA has demanded that organic body care
standards should mirror the standards for organic food products. This means
that:
- Certified organic agricultural feed-stocks are utilized
exclusively, versus petroleum or conventional vegetable feed-stocks, in the
manufacture of the key basic cleansing and conditioning ingredients.
- Manufacture of such ingredients is reasonably simple and ecological.
- The toxicity of each ingredient is minimal.
- Non-agricultural water is not counted in any shape or form as contributing
to organic content.
The OCA is a grassroots nonprofit organization concerned
with food safety, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, fair trade and
genetic engineering.
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www.organicconsumers.org