FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Organic Consumers Association

Katherine Paul, 207.653.3090,  katherine@organicconsumers.org

FINLAND, Minn.  – Sept. 19, 2012 – The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) today launched a national alert on behalf of consumers asking the Natural Products Association (NPA) to amend its certification process for its NPA Natural Seal to exclude any and all genetically modified ingredients.

“The NPA advertises itself as working on behalf of consumers who want to purchase products that they believe are safe and authentically natural,” said Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director of the OCA. “Yet nowhere in its personal care products certification process does the NPA screen for genetically modified ingredients, and nowhere on these products is there a label that says ‘may contain genetically modified ingredients’. This is an outright act of consumer fraud.”

On its website, the NPA states: “The NPA Natural Standard is based on natural ingredients, safety, responsibility and sustainability.”  The website further states: “A product labeled ‘natural’ should be made up of only, or at least almost only, natural ingredients and be manufactured with appropriate processes to maintain ingredient purity.”

The NPA website provides a list of ingredients approved under the personal care products NPA Natural Seal certification process. Nowhere on that list is there any indication that the NPA differentiates between GMO and non-GMO ingredients.

“The NPA profits off of retailers, whom it charges for this certification process,” Cummins said. Worse yet, the NPA deceives consumers by leading them to believe that the products they buy, stamped with the NPA Natural Seal, are truly natural. There is nothing natural about GMOs.”

The NPA recently came out publicly against Prop 37, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, despite claiming that it supports the consumer’s right to know. Some of the NPA’s members’ parent companies, including DuPont, BASF, Bayer, have contributed millions to the NO on 37 campaign.

The OCA urges all consumers to sign the letter to key representatives of the NPA.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is an online and grassroots non-profit 501(c)3 public interest organization campaigning for health, justice, and sustainability. The Organic Consumers Fund is a 501(c)4 allied organization of the Organic Consumers Association, focused on grassroots lobbying and legislative action.