Leading 'Natural' Products Trade Magazine Won't Run Ad that
Educates Consumers About False Organic Claims on Cosmetics

Consumers Continue to Be Misled about Floral Water

LITTLE MARAIS, MN-A widely read natural products' trade publication, The Natural Foods Merchandiser (NFM), is printing fraudulent "organic" cosmetics ads while refusing to run an ad that exposes the deceptive practices of these companies. So says the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), a nonprofit watchdog group for organic shoppers and retailers. The OCA was recently informed by Maurice Lluch, Publisher of NFM, that he will not accept ads from the OCA's "Coming Clean" campaign which has exposed fraudulent organic claims that cosmetics companies make on various body care products, like shampoos and body washes. The ad campaign is part of a larger grassroots effort demanding strong organic cosmetic standards that mirror federal organic food standards.

The NFM is a magazine with a readership of thousands of organic products retailers. "The stores purchasing natural and organic products trust that what they see in NFM is true," said Liz Welch, a spokesperson for the OCA. "NFM has been printing scores of deceptive 'organic' cosmetics ads, yet they refuse to print our ad, which is critical to informing consumers about organic fraud." Welch says the OCA plans to send copies of the ad to every natural products store in the U.S. and Canada, with a note indicating NFM's unjustified rejection of the ad.

The OCA advertisement features a spoof product called "Sham-Poo," a spin-off of the myriad body care products that fraudulently claim to be organic. The ad helps retailers and consumers learn what to look for on a body care product label, in order to determine if it is truly organic. For example, although "Sham-Poo's" front label claims the product is "certified 70% organic," a close look at the actual ingredients clearly shows otherwise. Although the USDA National Organic Standards do not allow synthetic petrochemical ingredients in a certified organic product, the ingredients label reveals the product consists mostly of synthetic surfactants, many of which are derived from petroleum. This violation of organic regulations is greenwashed by organic "floral waters" and/or "infusions" or "extracts", all of which amount to little more than flavored water.

The National Organic Standards do not allow water to be treated as an organic ingredient, but a growing number of body care product companies are inflating their organic ingredient percentages by counting ordinary distilled water as organic. Such water is present in "floral water" or "flower water", made by running steam through plant material and distilling it to make a complicated tea, and is counted as "organic" in order to trick consumers into buying what they believe to be an actual organic product. In fact, these products are largely composed of the same synthetic cleansers, conditioners and preservatives found in mainstream products. This deceptive practice is destroying the integrity of the organic label.

The OCA "Sham-Poo" advertisements are running through fall 2003 in publications read by organic consumers and retailers, including: Cooperative Grocer, Conscious Choice, Utne Reader, Mother Jones, Mothering Magazine, The Nation, Natural Home, The Progressive, Vegetarian News and E Magazine. The OCA's website, www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare, provides information about "natural" cosmetics and the organic standards debate. It encourages organic consumers to take action by sending a ready-made fax to the Organic Trade Association and the USDA's National Organic Program, demanding that organic body care standards should mirror organic food standards. In short, this would mean that organic body care products adhere to the following criteria:

" The toxicity of each ingredient in the product is minimal.
" Ordinary water is not counted in any shape or form as contributing to organic content.
" Certified organic agricultural raw materials 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 ecological.

The OCA is a grassroots nonprofit organization concerned with food safety, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, fair trade and genetic engineering.

ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION · 6101 CLIFF ESTATE ROAD · LITTLE MARAIS, MN 55614 USA
Telephone: 218-226-4164 · Fax: 218-353-7652· email: info@organicconsumers.org