Toronto Magazine Covers Body Care Controversy

This Magazine (Toronto, Canada)
December, 2003

Fake organics
BY: Jennifer O'Connor

HEY BIRKENSTOCK BABES AND PATCHOULI Princes, before you stock up on organic beautifiers, remember this simple saying: caveat emptor. The label may say
''organic,'' but, warns the Minnesota-based Organic Consumers Association,
(OCA) some labels lie.

At issue are hydrosols, or floral waters, a major ingredient in such
products, and what gives manufacturers their organic cred. They're made
when plants are steamed and the steam cools. The OCA counters that
hydrosols are ''inconsequential,'' and, since there are no regulations as
to how diluted they are, can be little more than distilled water.

There are no federal criteria for organic certification in Canada or the
U.S. when it comes to body care products. (Quebec has pledged to have
provincial standards by next year, and California has regulations.)

''We want organic standards for personal care products that mirror the food
standards for organics,'' says the OCA's Adam Eidinger.

Until rules are in place, the OCA says that when you buy something with
hydrosol (or hydrophlorate, a different name for essentially the same
thing) listed as the first ingredient you know what you're buying is
diluted.

The OCA kicked off its Coming Clean Campaign in May, taking special aim at
the Big Three of organic body stuffs: Avalon Natural Products, Nature's
Gate and JASON.

In August, the California Department of Health Services wrapped up a
three-month mislabelling investigation into Avalon, and found the company
within the bounds of the California Health and Safety Code. Of the
company's ''70% Organic Ingredients'' label, it said, ''Upon review of the
firm's labels and product formulations, the Department was unable to find
any instance where there was a statutory or regulatory basis to discount
any organic ingredient from the calculation.''

That doesn't wash with Eidinger. ''They're marketing their products as
organic and therefore consumers will pay more and that means more profits
for them. This is a marketing tool. People just assume that there's no way
that this big business could put organic labels [on products] if it wasn't
real. Well, they are doing it and it isn't real.''