Web Note: Even though OCA is happy to see that Hain’s Avalon body care products are being reformulated to meet NSF “Made with Organic Ingredients” standards, and is eliminating petrochemical-derived synthetics from its ingredients, we still are opposed to Hain/Avalon or any company trademarking the word “Organics” or “Organic” into its brand name, unless it is certified under USDA National Organic Program standards to include 95-100% of its ingredients as organic.

For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s All About Organics page and our Coming Clean Campaign page.

Cosmetic companies lie all the time; it’s simply part of the business of
making money. Part of Truth In Aging’s mission is to change the world
one eye cream at a time – and that includes convincing cosmetics
companies that the consumer comes first. So while we’ve criticized
Avalon Organics in the past for portraying a very natural image and
selling fairly unnatural products (green washing, anyone?), it’s always
exciting to see companies like this one change their ways, proving that
putting the consumer first and making money doesn’t have to be an
either-or decision.

Earlier this month, Avalon, which is part of The Hain Celestial Group, announced its transition to the NSF/ANSI 305 Standard for Personal Care Products Containing Organic Ingredients. The standard defines labeling and marketing requirements for cosmetics, oral care products, personal hygiene products and related personal care products that contain organic ingredients. Essentially, this voluntary standard doesn’t allow for companies that wish to receive the NSF label to get away with dishonest practices, such as marking product containers with “contains organic ingredients” when, in reality, only a small percentage of the ingredients are truly organic.

Products with the NSF seal of approval comply with several requirements, including limiting chemical inclusions and stating the exact percentage of organic content. To actually sport the NSF label, a product must contain at least 70% organic ingredients, in addition to meeting all the other NSF requirements. In the United States, the NSF comes second only to the USDA in terms of stringency of regulations; companies that are approved by NSF should certainly be commended for their honest labeling and relatively safe ingredients. And the USDA does not technically have specific standards for personal care products, so the NSF is filling a needed void.