Coming Clean Campaign Results in Better Labeling and Ingredients in Personal Care Products at Expo East

Avalon Drops Misleading Organic Claim and Use of Paraben Preservatives

WASHINGTON--- The Organic Consumers Association's Coming Clean Campaign is causing incremental yet significant change in major personal care companies' formulations and label claims. In particular, Avalon Natural Products, a leading manufacturer of shampoo and other products, had been labeling their products as 70% organic by counting non-plant water from the steaming of botanical ingredients in their organic claim. In a positive response to a nationwide consumer backlash generated by the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), an internal Avalon review found that former Avalon management and the supplier of the water extracts in question had been making misleading claims about the organic nature of the regular tap water in their hydrosol water extracts. Avalon has overhauled their labeling to cease making "70% organic" representations on the basis of this water. Avalon is now using certified organic essential oils to fragrance their products, which supports significant organic acreage.

In addition, Avalon has stopped using paraben preservatives, which have been suspected as having some estrogenic effects that can harm vulnerable wildlife and potentially even have negative chronic effects on people. On October 11, the European Commission formally recommended that propyl paraben be prohibited as a food additive. (Please see: http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/04/1201&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en)

"To protect organic labeling integrity we created the Coming Clean Campaign featuring full page advertisements, street protests with life-sized '100% Organic Fraud' Sham-Poo bottles at last year's Expo East and the generation of thousands of letters to the NOP. We are pleased that this grassroots effort is paying off and welcome Avalon's conscious decision to improve their labeling." says Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director of OCA. "We had no choice but to take aggressive action because the National Organic Program (NOP) failed consumers by not enforcing organic labeling standards on personal care products."

Avalon's new labels continue to represent the brand as "Avalon Organics®" on the front panel. The practice of "Company Name Organics" is widespread in the natural products industry despite the fact most such companies' products are based on synthetic conventional detergents. "Many companies have 'Organics" in their name even though their core ingredients are not certified organic," says Cummins. "Nevertheless Avalon's new label is more accurate than before and represents the ingredients in a straightforward way we embrace."

Currently, leading 'natural' brands, such Nature's Gate Organics, continue to mislead consumers into thinking 70% or more of the content of their products are "organic" by counting ordinary water in water extracts as "organic," and the use of paraben preservatives in such products continues as well. (Note: 70% organic content enables a product to make a front panel organic label claim under the National Organic Program). Similar to an infusion or tea, which is made by boiling plant material in water, hydrosol water extracts are made by steaming plants, and then cooling the steam back to water. Products made with infusions or teas cannot count the water in such teas or infusions as organic in calculating organic content under NOP food standards. However, it has become distressingly common practice to use "Steam Tea" as the main "organic" ingredient in many products by misleadingly counting the ordinary water in such "Steam Teas" as organic.

The OCA is a grassroots nonprofit organization concerned with food safety, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, fair trade and genetic engineering.
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ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION · 6101 CLIFF ESTATE ROAD · LITTLE MARAIS, MN 55614 USA
Telephone: 218-226-4164 · Fax: 218-353-7652· email: info@organicconsumers.org; www.organicconsumers.org