Jul. 7--A California lawsuit highlights the problems consumers have faced in the confusing regulatory terrain of organic and natural personal care products.
Consumers have had only piecemeal and incomplete regulation to guide them. But government agencies and other organizations are taking steps to improve public safety.
As one maker of personal products said, "It's a year of reckoning for the industry."
On May 29, state Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a lawsuit under Proposition 65 against four companies with "natural" personal care product lines containing the chemical 1,4-dioxane, a known carcinogen.
The four companies named in the lawsuit are Avalon Natural Products, Beaumont Products Inc., NutriBiotic and Whole Foods Market California Inc.
The state's actions, however, will be limited by the scope of Proposition 65, which does not directly cover organic and natural products but does require that warnings be placed on products containing carcinogens.
At the national level, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is working on a definition of "natural products" to be used in future standards, said USDA National Organic Program spokesman Billy Cox. It does not certify natural products.
The department's National Organic Program certifies organically produced cosmetics and body care products but on a voluntary basis.
The Food and Drug Administration can take action against cosmetic companies that make false or misleading claims on product labels, but it does not define or regulate "organic" or "natural" cosmetics, nor does it test any cosmetics before they go to market.
In the private sector, the nonprofit Natural Products Association launched a certification program May 1. The voluntary program will certify products as natural if they contain at least 95 percent ingredients from renewable resources found in nature, with no petroleum compounds.
"Organic products aren't necessarily inherently safer than non-organics," said David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps. "But if they're certified and not making bogus claims, it does guarantee they can't use a lot of problematic petrochemicals."
Natural product claims don't really mean anything since there are no regulations, Bronner said.
The Escondido company's personal care products are compliant with the USDA program.
" 'Natural' is a funny word," Bronner said. "The product still doesn't grow on a tree."
Ronnie Cummins of the watchdog group Organic Consumer Association agrees.
"There's a nominal meaning to 'natural,' " Cummins said. "It certainly doesn't connote it's safer than conventional products."
Consumers may not know the difference between natural and organic, but they will pay a premium for both types of goods, according to Cummins.
"They should get their money's worth, not petroleum-based products disguised as natural," Cummins said.
Deputy Attorney General Susan Fiering said the state hopes companies will agree to reformulate or strip out the 1,4-dioxane from their products.
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