Organic Personal Care Products: Beyond the Label

The followings is a guest post from Jeff McIntire-Strasburg. Jeff McIntire-Strasburg is the founder and editor of sustainablog, the long-running sustainability blog that now features a green shopping portal (which sells organic cosmetics). Elyas Bakhtiari contributed to the researching of this article.

Organic is organic, right? Either a product originates from an agricultural process that relies on natural methods of fertilization and pest control, or it doesn’t. OK, that may oversimplify things a bit, but when you buy organic, you expect the ingredients in the products you purchase to meet certain standards: at minimum, chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and herbicides weren’t used in the growing of any agriculture ingredients.

The US Department of Agriculture sees things a bit differently. If you’re eating organic, you can rest easy: the USDA certifies organic foods according to set standards, and does not allow uncertified products to use the word “organic.” If, however, you’re applying a product labeled “organic” to your skin, you apparently don’t require the same level of protection: while personal care products can be certified by the USDA, they don’t have to be... and their manufacturers can still call them organic. So, organic is organic with products you ingest; if you put it on your skin, organic may be organic… or not.

If you’re a consumer, that makes your product selection more difficult. If you’re running a company producing legitimate organic personal care products, that means you’re competing with others businesses that may not take the same level of care with claims about their products’ ingredients and origins.

In January, a handful of companies decided they were tired of this tilted playing field. Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, Intelligent Nutrients, and Organic Essence, along with the Organic Consumers Association, filed a complaint with the USDA’s National Organic Program, claiming that a number of other personal care product vendors “advertised, labeled and marketed [products] as ‘organic’ or ‘organics’ when, in fact, the petitioners say the products are not ‘organic’ as understood by reasonable consumers.” Companies named in the complaint included The Hain Celestial Group, Kiss My Face, and Eminence Organic Skin Care (Beyond Pesticides published the complete list)

There’s no doubt that the legal wrangling here will take some time… maybe years. Until regulators adopt and enforce a single legitimate standard for organic personal care products, you’ll need to do your homework. Some facts and resources that will help you make the right choices:

• Stick to USDA certified products: this ensures that the product you buy is either based on 100% organically-grown and organically-produced ingredients, or contain a minimum of 95% organically-grown and organically-produced ingredients. Any remaining ingredients must be approved on the National Organic Product list. The Organic Consumers Association maintains a list of certified brands (see the left sidebar for “Buy these Certified USDA Organic Brands”).
• If you like a product that hasn’t received USDA certification, you can always check up on it in the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database. You’ll find a complete list of ingredients, as well as information on any health or safety concerns associated with those ingredients.
• Keep in mind that the term “natural” has no single standard for any product (including food). Don’t accept it at face value any more than “organic” on beauty products... do your homework!

Legitimate organic and natural personal care products do exist… you just have to make sure that the products you buy meet your expectations.