USDA Continuing to Allow Bogus "Organic" Labels on Certain Body Care Products

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 23, 2005

CONTACT: Craig Minowa 320-384-7764
Craig@OrganicConsumers.org Adam Eidinger 202-744-2671 Adam@OrgranicConsumers.org

USDA Responds to OCA Hydrosol Complaint

OCA to Coordinate "Open Source" Project for Organic Personal Care Ingredients

WASHINGTON, DC - The USDA has formally responded to the Organic Consumer Association's (OCA) complaint regarding cosmetic companies counting ordinary tap water as an "organic" ingredient in body care products. The USDA claims that it does not have jurisdiction over these matters, since this misleading "organic" labeling technique is not being used in food products. In a March 9 letter, USDA stated: ³The U.S. Department of Agriculture (Department) has not asserted jurisdiction over the ultimate labeling of personal care products. Accordingly, the allegations regarding the ultimate labeling of personal care products are dismissed as moot."

At issue are hydrosol water extracts, the water byproduct of steam distillation of plant material for essential oils. In order to make individual body care products appear to consumers to have a much higher percentage of organic ingredients, several cosmetic companies have been using hydrosols to count the ordinary water from steam as "organic." Organic consumers and companies claim this is problematic, given that recent studies by Rutgers University have verified that the majority of hydrosols is ordinary water from steam, not the plant.

Including ordinary water as an "organic" ingredient could not be allowed under the USDA National Organic Program for foods, as the central tenet of the NOP is that a product¹s organic content be determined without factoring water one way or another. Yet this practice is used by companies to make prominent labeling claims as high as "70 percent organic" on body care products that, in actuality, contain few organic ingredients. Hydrosols were also briefly marketed to food companies for uses in sauces and soups to enable inflated organic labeling claims before OCA filed the formal complaint, but ceased after the complaint was filed. Since then, no food company has actually purchased hydrosol water extracts for the sake of inflating organic labeling claims, unlike personal care companies. Thus, NOP ruled the issue was moot.

"We're pleased that the filing of the complaint stopped food companies from counting ordinary water as an organic ingredient," said Craig Minowa, an Environmental Scientist with the OCA. "However, the USDA's refusal to address this same issue in body care products leaves a regulatory vacuum in that problematic sector." In an effort to protect consumers from misleading "organic" labeling claims while supporting the organic industry, the OCA has announced it will be assisting personal care companies to identify and source functional organic ingredients. An exploratory meeting was held with body care companies at the Expo West show in Anaheim, California, regarding cooperative organic ingredient sourcing and information sharing. Participants were enthusiastic, and a fully developed program and website will be formally unveiled in the coming months.

The OCA also commissioned Rutgers University in the summer of 2004 to do a further study using deuterated or "heavy" water during distillation of plant material to precisely measure the relative contribution of ordinary water from steam versus plant juice in hydrosol water extracts. This study was completed last year and the formal Rutgers report will be released later next month. The results should aid companies and certifiers in ascertaining the relative organic juice contribution of hydrosol water extracts make to multi-ingredient personal care products. In the meantime, the OCA says it will continue its watchdog role of the organic body care industry, which is especially needed in the absence of regulatory oversight from the USDA.

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