Certified Organic &/Or Natural Beauty Products

There are several agencies around the world whose purpose is to certify organic and/or natural beauty products. These institutions have varying standards that they apply in their certification process. Here are the six European organizations that assure consumers the personal care products they buy are certified to be toxic-free. A brief description of several of these organizations will be provided. Each subscribes to the European cosmetics standards working group that is in the process of establishing a not-for-profit COSMOS-standard International Association. This association is seeking to obtain legal status on pronouncement of the Belgian Royal Decree expected to be finalized in April of 2010.

The COSMOS-standard, the cosmetics organic and natural standard, has been developed in Europe by BDIH (Germany), BIOFORUM (Belgium), COSMEBIO & ECOCERT (France), ICEA (Italy), and SOIL ASSOCIATION (UK). Through these companies the association will define minimum requirements and definitions for certified organic and/or natural beauty products.

This article cannot get into the details of the standard for several reasons. One, because the information is copyrighted and is prohibited from use without express written consent of the founding organizations. Two, it is not a legal document and not expected to be before April, 2010, and therefore, would be premature at this time. However, what can be done is introduce the measures by which Europe and these companies are taking this serious public issue, the production of safe, toxic-free personal care products.

So, let’s begin. Why, you might ask is this necessary? The answer is quite simple. It has been scientifically proven that there are over 10,500 chemicals used in the manufacture of personal care products. Although no one knows for sure how many of these chemicals are toxic (poisons), what we do know is that the European Union (EU) has banned over 1100 of these chemicals for cosmetic beauty products sold throughout Europe, while the US has banned a mere 10. We also know, through new scientific studies, that many of these toxic ingredients are directly linked to cancer, birth defects, respiratory problems, liver and kidney diseases, etc. In an article printed on December 9, 2009 in the San Francisco Chronicle, it started with this statement: “Chemicals from cosmetics, perfumes, and other fragrances were detected along with dozens of other industrial compounds in the umbilical cords of African American, Asian, and Latino infants in the United States…” It went on to say “laboratory tests, paid for by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Rachel’s Network, found 232 chemicals and pollutants in the umbilical cords of the 10 babies tested in five states between December 2007 and June of 2008.” This was the 11th time the EWG has conducted these laboratory tests and cumulatively has found over 414 chemicals and pollutants in 186 people of all races and ages, including Caucasians.

Europe is taking a lead position on this subject starting with the EU. It is evidently determined to provide consumers certified organic and/or natural beauty products and is now moving to a non-government, not-for-profit Cosmos-standard International Association. Briefly, let’s look at several of these organizations’ standards, BDIH, ECOCERT, and the UK SOIL ASSOCIATION.

BDIH: any product that carries the BDIH “Certified Natural Cosmetic Seal” must use natural raw material, namely oils from plants, fats, waxes, extracts from herbs, and aromatic oils, collected from “controlled biological cultivation or controlled biological wild cultivation”. Further, there must be no animal testing, performed or commissioned, in end products. (Cleverly, in the US, a cosmetic company can claim their product was produced with no animal testing, without having to disclose if some of the ingredients were animal tested by the companies from which they purchased the said ingredients.) BDIH will reject any deliberate use of synthetic dyes or fragrances. To ensure biologically safe products, BDIH will use natural preservatives. They do allow some synthetic preservatives, but these are very limited and when used, BDIH requires the label states “preserved with…[name of preservative]. As a final precaution BDIH uses a third party neutral source to check that the above criteria is complied with.

BDIH has extended goals, probably the most important being ecological factors such as “environmentally-friendly manufacturing processes”; “optimal biodegradability of raw materials and finished products”; and “environmentally-friendly and recyclable packaging”.

ECOCERT: this standard is 38 pages long and reproduction is strictly prohibited. Therefore, I must emphasize that the following, although taken from their published site is this authors interpretation of their principles.

This is a voluntary partnership between ECOCERT and certain cosmetic companies and is conducted for the following reasons:

  • there are no standards for the manufacture, packaging and labeling of certified organic and/or natural beauty products;

  • it is impossible, or at best, difficult, for the consumer to recognize what is purported to be products manufactured from organic and/or natural substances with environmentally-friendly procedures.

There objectives are:

  • link organic and/or natural agricultural products to cosmetic products;

  • in doing so, to respect consumers and the environment.

In the certification process ECOCERT addresses the consumer, based on product labeling and usage; the manufacturer, based on ingredients; formulas to produce the final product; manufacturing rules; final inspection of products; and environmentally-friendly plant and processes.

UK SOIL ASSOCIATION: Certification is defined on their website as: “we offer an unrivaled service, value for money and robust organic standards through our not-for-profit, market leading certification body.” The following comes directly from their website.

“Our standards for organic beauty products are based on our food standards. This means if an ingredient is available organically, it must be used. The remaining ingredients must meet strict criteria to ensure that they are not damaging to our health or the environment.

To achieve organic certification, a company must:

  • Have their manufacturing facility inspected annually by the Soil Association. This includes an audit of organic ingredients use and demonstration of ecologically sound production methods

  • Submit all product formulae and labels to the Soil Association for approval

  • Provide clear labeling so that the consumer can make an informed choice about the product they are purchasing

  • For any non-organic ingredient, submit a declaration from the supplier that it is non-GM, plus declarations from 3 suppliers that the ingredient is not available in organic quality

  • Use the maximum possible amount of organic ingredients; a product that carries the Soil Association symbol and is labeled organic, must contain at least 95% organic ingredients. In cases where the product contains more than 70% organic ingredients, it can still be certified by the Soil Association but the company must state on the packaging exactly what proportion of ingredients are organic

  • Use minimal non-organic additives and only those from a restricted list. These must be non-GM and can only be used if the organic version of that ingredient is not yet available.

  • Use ingredients that if processed, are processed by ecologically sound means.

Therefore, there can be a large difference between a beauty product that is certified organic and one that is merely described as ‘organic’ on the label. To ensure a product is guaranteed organic, look for a certification  logo, such as the Soil Association symbol.”

This should provide some idea of the lengths that Europe is taking this major issue. One must comprehend that the skin is the largest organ of the body and what you put on it, regardless of the amount, will be absorbed into our bodies. We are just now beginning to understand the long term effects of these toxic materials absorbed over decades and the benefits of the daily use of certified organic and/or natural beauty products.

The eBook covers this subject in much greater depth with documentation provided for each assertion.