Action ALERT
TELL THE USDA: Stop Organic Body Care Fraud!
JOIN THE BOYCOTT: Boycott faux organic brands! Buy USDA certified organic body care!
WHAT'S YOUR STORY? Have you been the victim of organic fraud?
Breaking News - January 26, 2010
OCA Spreadsheet Summarizes "Organic Cheater Brand" Cosmetic Hazard Scores
The OCA has prepared a spreadsheet summarizing "Organic Cheater brand" products and their Hazard Rankings according to the Environmental Working Group's "Skin Deep" Cosmetic Safety Database. The tabs at the top of the spreadsheet list various brands horizontally: click each tab to view that brand's product scores from the Skin Deep" database. By far the majority of fake organic products score in the "Moderate Hazard" category. Conversely, Dr. Bronner's Skin Deep product scores show that the vast majority of true NOP certified organic personal care score in the safest "Low Hazard" category. A couple of brands, Jason "Pure, Natural & Organic" and Nature's Gate "Organics", even had some of their fake organic products score in the unsafest "High Hazard" category. Perhaps even more disturbing, two of the "organic cheater" brands who are the subject of OCA's Complaint to USDA NOP, have reneged on their signed promise to provide product and ingredient information to Skin Deep so that their products' safety can be assessed. Those brands are Eminence "Organic" Skin Care and Head "Organics". Another two brands, while they have not reneged on any promises, have also decided to not submit product and ingredient information to Skin Deep: Ilike "Organic" Skin Care and Surya Sapien "Organic". As noted in the Complaint, all these brands utilize surfactants made in part or entirely from petrochemicals as primary cleansing ingredients, which contain no organic agricultural material whatsoever. Eminence in particular deceptively claims that Alpha Olefin Sulfonate, the primary cleanser in its "Organic Stone Crop Bodywash", is from a "plant source," when in fact this cleanser is commercially available only in pure petrochemical form. Both Nature's Gate and Eminence do produce a few true USDA NOP certified organic products under their respective brands. However, the vast majority of their product lines are not certified under the USDA's National Organic Program, because their main cleansing and moisturizing ingredients are generally based on conventional or petrochemical, rather than organic agricultural, material. As a general rule when shopping for organic personal care, check for the USDA seal to be sure you're buying true organic personal care rather than fake organic products. Click here to view the spreadsheet summarizing the hazards of non-NOP certified personal care brands. Go to the top of this section for details on the layout of the spreadsheet. Organic Consumers Association and Certified Organic Brands File Federal Complaint Urging USDA to Regulate Organic Personal Care 'Cheater Brands' Complaint Requests Federal Action on Deceptive Organic Labeling and Advertising of Personal Care Products See left-hand column for complaint and exhibits. WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Organic Consumers Association (OCA), along with certified organic personal care brands Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, Intelligent Nutrients, and Organic Essence, today filed a complaint with the USDA National Organic Program (NOP), requesting action on the widespread and blatantly deceptive labeling practices of leading “Organic” personal care brands, in violation of the federal organic law. The complaint, filed on behalf of the estimated 50 million consumers of organic products, urges the USDA to regulate cosmetics as they do food. The complaint argues that, because of USDA inaction, products such as liquid soaps, body washes, facial cleansers, shampoos, conditioners, moisturizing lotions, lip balms, and make-up are advertised, labeled and marketed as “Organic” or “Organics” when, in fact, the products are not “Organic” as understood by reasonable consumers. “Unfortunately, the hands-off regulatory approach by the USDA's National Organic Program during the Bush years failed to protect consumers from deceptive labeling in the personal care marketplace,” said Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director of the Organic Consumers Association. While the USDA enforces strict standards for the labeling of organic food, the NOP has not enforced the organic regulations in regards to personal care. “Given the increased resources and staffing at the National Organic Program under Obama, we’re optimistic that the situation will be rectified before too much more damage is done.” added Cummins. “Consumers who pay a premium for high-end organic products expect the main cleansing and moisturizing ingredients of a product labeled “Organic” to be made from certified organic agricultural material produced on organic farms, and not from petrochemicals or pesticide and herbicide-intensive conventional farming,” explains Horst Rechelbacher, founder of Intelligent Nutrients (and founder and previous owner of Aveda). To illustrate the result of USDA inaction in this sector, the complaint describes products produced by twelve different corporations, including the Hain Celestial Group, Inc.; Kiss My Face Corporation; YSL Beaute, Inc.; Giovanni Cosmetics, Inc.; Cosway Company, Inc.; Country Life, LLC; Szep Elet LLC (makers of Ilike Organic Skin Care); Physicians’ Formula Holdings, Inc. (makers of Organic Wear); Surya Nature, Inc.; Organic Bath Company; and Freeman Beauty Division of pH Beauty Labs, Inc. (makers of Freeman Goodstuff Organics). David Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, stated, “Yesterday we re-filed our lawsuit in federal court against culprit companies under the Lanham Act for false advertising. One way or another, the era of ripping off organic consumers in personal care will soon come to an end.” Ellery West, founder and owner of Organic Essence adds, “The predatory marketing practices of companies that take advantage of consumer trust in organic are cheating not only organic consumers but also small certified companies like ourselves.” On November 5, 2009, the USDA National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) formally recommended that the National Organic Program regulate personal care to ensure that any use of the word "organic" on a personal care product is backed up by third-party certification to USDA organic standards. Immediately following the recommendation, the OCA launched a consumer boycott of the major “Organic” cheater brands, and has produced a list of USDA certified organic brands that are true to their claims and are safe for Organic consumers. ### On November 5, 2009, the USDA National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) passed a recommendation for "Solving the Problem of Mislabeled Organic Personal Care Products." The recommendation urges the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) to make sure that any use of the word "organic" on a personal care product is backed up by third-party certification to USDA organic standards. Currently, as the recommendation describes, "at a given retailer, one may find personal care products such as shampoos and lotions labeled as 'organic' with no clear standards or regulatory underpinning for the organic claim - and unless the product is specifically labeled as 'USDA Organic,' the word 'organic' may be used with impunity. Manufacturers of personal care products that contain organic ingredients are hindered by a thicket of competing private standards and confusion regarding the applicability of the NOP to their products. Transactions lack the regulatory clarity that applies under the NOP to food products that contain organic ingredients." The Organic Consumers Association sees this recommendation as a preliminary victory for its Coming Clean campaign to rid store shelves of products that are falsely advertised as "organic." The USDA has long resisted policing the market for organic personal care products. Even President Obama's USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, an advocate for organic agriculture, has expressed reluctance. In response to an OCA letter-writing campaign urging her to go after personal care products that are falsely advertised as organic she wrote, "The USDA regulates organic personal care products only if they are made up of agricultural ingredients. We have no standards for personal care products and have no plans to develop standards at this time." Her statement is at once confusing and disappointing. Organic personal care products that are made up of agricultural ingredients are the ones that are most likely to be genuine USDA-certified products. It's the personal care products that are made from synthetic, petroleum-based ingredients that are falsely advertised as "organic" that we need her to regulate. Furthermore, OCA doesn't want the USDA to create standards for organic personal care products. We just want them to enforce the current agricultural standards in personal care, like they do when conventional foods are mislabeled as organic. The OCA is backing up its grassroots lobbying with market pressure in the form of a consumer boycott of cheater brands and a "buy-cott" of (promotion of and support for) brands that are certified organic. Before OCA launched the boycott of brands that are falsely marketing themselves as organic, it gave producers an opportunity to come clean. Beginning September 24, 2009, at the Natural Products Expo East in Boston, OCA met with personal care products companies engaged in organic fraud and urged them to sign a contract making a pledge to consumers that they will either meet organic standards or stop making false organic claims. The following brands refused and are now being boycotted. Campaigning for Organic Integrity in Bodycare Products Over 600 organic businesses have signed on to support this campaign (see a list of supporting businesses here or sign your business on to be a supporter here). If you are a personal care producer or retailer and would like to support
OCA's Coming Clean Campaign,
click here.
This is why the Organic Consumers Association recommends consumers look for
the USDA organic seal on personal care products that claim to be organic.
Although there are multiple "organic" standards all around the
world, each with its own varying criteria, the USDA Organic Standards are
the "gold standard" for personal care products. If you are looking to purchase a product that is totally organic, look for the USDA organic seal. If it doesn't have the seal, read the ingredient label to find out how many ingredients are truly organic and how many are synthetic.
National Organic Standards Board Tells USDA: "Stop Organic Body Care Fraud!"
The Organic Consumers Association's "Coming Clean Campaign" has been working to clean up the 'natural' and 'organic' personal care industry since 2004. Unlike organic foods, many personal care products are falsely labeled as "organic".
OCA's Coming Clean Campaign is focused on cleaning up the organic personal care industry by ridding of fraudulent labeling that is misleading consumers. The OCA believes that organic
bodycare standards should mirror organic
food standard.
This means that:
Certified organic agricultural feedstocks are utilized in the manufacture
of the key basic cleansing and conditioning ingredients, versus petroleum
or conventional feedstocks. The word "organic" is not properly regulated on personal care products (example: toothpaste, shampoo, lotion, etc.) as it is on food products, unless the product is certified by the USDA National Organic Program.
Due to this lax regulation, many personal care products have the word "organic" in their brand name or otherwise on their product label, but unless they are USDA certified, the main cleansing ingredients and preservatives are usually made with synthetic and petrochemical compounds.
