Organic Skin Care to Go Unregulated

[Guest guest]

Jayne Ollin, AlterNet August 29, 2002

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When purchasing certain products labeled " organic " , or

" certified organic, " customers will have to shop with a very sharp eye.

Recent pressure on the USDA to honor an exemption clause in the National

Organic Policy (NOPS) with regard to skin care products, cotton and

dietary supplements has been successful, which will leave these

industries unregulated with regard to the term organic. According to the

Preamble on Applicability and Clarification, " the ultimate labeling of

cosmetics, body care products, and dietary supplements, however, is

outside the scope of these regulations. "

 

For the record, the National Organic Standards as they

apply to food are very clear -- a product containing 100 percent

certified organic ingredients might be labeled " Certified Organic " with

no synthetic ingredients. A product containing 95 percent organic

ingredients may be labeled " organic with no synthetic ingredients. "

Anything less then 95 percent may use the term organic with regard to

the specific organic ingredient only.

 

Many large and influential Health and Beauty Aid (HABA)

companies have been lobbying USDA to relax or completely exempt these

standards for personal care. Their main complaints are that they weren't

given enough time to get ready, even though members of the trade

association have been intimately involved in the evolution of the policy

statement drafted in 1990. They also maintain that skin care products

cannot be made without synthetics, enhancers, and/or chemical

stabilizers and preservatives (even though Grandma's been doing it for

years). Tom Hutchinson, the Quality Assurance Director of the Organic

Trade Association, stated that the HABA industry's biggest " hurdle will

be to convince the overall organic industry that the synthetics it uses

in processing products are as necessary as the allowable synthetics in

food processing. "

 

The recent reports of the USDA being shackled by the

exemption clause in the Federal regulations for skin care products has

already resulted in a virtual free-for-all as products passing

themselves off as organic and certified organic have begun to flood the

market.

 

Ads for certified organic products are already appearing

in mainstream magazines whose ad deadlines closed months ago. Many of

these products have as little as 50 percent organic ingredients, and an

alarming number have only a tiny percentage of organic ingredients or

none at all. Some companies are claiming that all of their ingredients

are certified organic including the controversial class of synthetic

parabens and glycols such as methylpropylparaben and propylene glycol,

along with many chemically derived botanical extracts.

 

Highlighting the difference under the new standards, one

leading HABA manufacturer recently published the following statement on

their website: " [Ours] is the only brand in the industry that lists the

percentage of certified organic ingredients on their labels and that

each of their products contains at least 50 percent certified organic

ingredients. "

 

Already, confusion and mayhem are brewing in the HABA

industry with regard to what the standards for organic are for food,

what they should be for personal care, and who can use the word as part

of their company name or on the front of their label. It looks a lot

like the fox guarding the henhouse, explaining that he'll eat only 5

percent of the chickens.

 

However, the true victims in this new chapter will be the

customers that trust the " organic " label, who expect (rightfully so)

that skin care manufacturers are held accountable by regulations that

apply to food.

 

Many will be led to believe these products are better,

healthier and therefore may cost more. There is also a growing awareness

among the health care industry and consumers that regulations for

organic skin care products should be stricter then that of food due to

the skins absorbency rate, which is ten times greater. The bottom line

should not be determined by the gross profit margin for manufacturers

but by the health and well being of the customer, because that which we

lather on our skin should be as pure if not purer of synthetics and

chemicals then the food we eat.

 

Given the situation, it is painfully clear that we cannot

leave the regulation of organic for skin care, supplements and cotton

products up to the trade industry. Until adequate regulations are

strictly enforced the old rule of thumb still applies: " believe only

half of what you see and none of what you hear. "

 

Jayne Ollin is a freelance writer, artist, activist and

organic farmer currently living in Central Vermont. To learn more about

the current organic regulations, visit the NOP website.

 

--------------------------

That NOP website is http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/

 

We must be careful to not confuse facts with opinions. The business on

absorbancy is an opinion .. for example.

 

Y'all keep smiling, Butch http://www.AV-AT.com