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Suit Accuses Cosmetic Makers of Organic Ruse
By Ilana DeBare
The San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday 29 April 2008
A long-simmering dispute over the definition of organic personal care products
boiled over into court Monday, when Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps filed a lawsuit
charging many of its competitors with deceptively marketing their soaps and
lotions.
The lawsuit - filed in San Francisco Superior Court - targeted many widely
known cosmetic manufacturers including Estee Lauder, Kiss My Face, Hain Celestial
and Stella McCartney America. It also named smaller firms such as Mill Valley-based
Juice Beauty.
In the suit, Dr. Bronner's accused the firms of false advertising by labeling
products "organic" that contain relatively little organic material,
that contain synthetic chemicals, or that use petrochemicals in processing.
"This is the corrosive marketing of the cosmetics industry that hollowed
out the meaning of 'natural' and now is doing the same with 'organic',"
said David Bronner, president of the 60-year-old company.
The lawsuit is evidence of the growing clout of green consumers, particularly
in the arena of personal care products. Sales of natural body care products
grew from $499 million in 2004 to $685 million in 2006 - an increase of 37 percent,
according to the consumer products research firm Mintel.
Chasing Consumers
Both large and small companies have been wooing eco-minded consumers, with
big corporations including Estee Lauder acquiring brands such as Aveda that
market themselves as natural or organic.
At the same time, though, there are no federal regulations governing either
natural or organic personal care products.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture sets strict standards for organic food.
But it doesn't have a similar standard for soaps, shampoos and cosmetics.
Some firms like Dr. Bronner's have voluntarily adopted the USDA's organic food
standard for their body care products, which requires that 95 percent of the
ingredients be organic if
Some other firms like Juice Beauty adhere to California's standard for organic
body care products, which is less demanding than the USDA food standard.
And still other firms simply label their body care products organic without
trying to meet any external guidelines.
Voluntary Standards
"Companies are all over the board with what the word organic means,"
said Stacy Malkan, the Berkeley author of "Not Just a Pretty Face: The
Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry."
For several years, cosmetic companies and consumer groups have started trying
to sort things out by coming up with voluntary standards.
But they haven't managed to reach a consensus. A nonprofit standard-setting
group called NSF International released draft rules for organic personal care
products in January. Then in March, 30 cosmetic companies, including Estee Lauder's
Aveda, came out with their own set of rules called Organic and Sustainability
Industry Standards (OASIS).
"This particular industry seems incapable of coming to any agreement about
it," said Ann Blake, an environmental consultant in Alameda.
In Monday's lawsuit, Dr. Bronner's accused OASIS as well as 10 individual companies
of misleading consumers by watering down the term organic.
Who Decides What's Organic?
Among the issues raised in the suit are whether organic personal care products
must contain a certain percentage of organic ingredients, whether they may contain
petrochemicals and whether they may contain synthetic preservatives.
An OASIS spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit because she hadn't
yet seen it, but denied trying to mislead anyone.
Meanwhile, some companies questioned Dr. Bronner's right to define organic.
"We meet the standards of the California Organic Products Act, which is
the only regulation in place for organic skin care," said Karen Behnke
of Juice Beauty. "The last we know, Bronner was not appointed by any government
agency to set a standard. I'm not sure why we would have to follow a standard
set by him."
For now, it's unclear how or when a clear definition of organic body care products
will emerge for consumers to rely upon.
It's possible that a new administration in Washington might take a more active
role in setting organic standards. Or one of the competing industry efforts
at standard-setting may win out.
Or - with the Dr. Bronner's lawsuit - the courts may end up deciding what constitutes
an organic soap or skin lotion.
"The question that needs to be answered," said Malkan, "is,
'How organic is "organic" going to be?' It will be interesting to
see how this plays out."
For More Information
To read a copy of Dr. Bronner's lawsuit over organic labeling of personal care
products, see links.sfgate.com/ZDEV.
For information on OASIS, a new organic standard for personal care products
that is criticized in the lawsuit, see links.sfgate.com/ZDEW.
Another proposed standard for organic body care products, by NSF International,
is at links.sfgate.com/ZDEX.
The Organic Consumers Association has a list of personal care product companies
that meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture's existing organic standards for
food at links.sfgate.com/ZDEY.
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Source: Chronicle research
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