Natural Cosmetic NewsNatural Cosmetic & Personal Care News & Articles
Guide to Natural Cosmetics Certifications
Nowadays consumers are a bit more interested in making sure that the products they buy are the safest possible. By safe I mean safe for our bodies and our health. The bad news is that there is no way to ensure, right now anyways, that the products we buy which are labeled “natural” are in fact what they claim to be. The good news is that there are Organizations worldwide that are working hard to make sure that the “natural” and “organic” products available are of the finest and highest quality ingredients. Here is a short list of the most popular certifiers in the United States and Europe, just to name a few.
UNITED STATES
USDA / United States Department of Agriculture http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome
Unfortunately there’s not much the FDA can do regarding certifications as they do not define the term “organic” for cosmetics, body care or personal care products. The USDA regulates cosmetics, body and personal care products as long as they are made up of agricultural ingredients, and can meet the USDA/ NOP organic production, labeling, processing standards.
For a product to obtain the USDA Organic seal it must follow the following: 100% organic, organic, made with organic ingredients and cannot use less than 70% organic ingredients in their products. The problem with these guidelines is the fact that they are very similar to the ones used on food.
Another issue with this organization is that it was called upon on the misuse of the term “organic” in personal care and cosmetics products. The Organic Consumers Association has informed that a large part of the products using organic in their product title and description are not certified. The consequences for manufacturers are many. For now, the main action taken is a boycott, announced by the Organic Consumers Association, which includes companies such as Organics by Noah’s Naturals, Nature’s Gate Organics, Amazon Organics and Avalon Organics.
Most if not all of the Organic Certifying Agencies in the U.S. do not offer certifications for natural cosmetics or personal care products.
For more information you may visit this link: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5068442
EUROPE
NaTrue www.natrue.org
Is an organization in Europe that looks to aid natural cosmetics manufacturers in the development of future regulatory directives worldwide. One of these concerns is the development of a proper use of the terms “natural cosmetics” and “bio/ organic cosmetics” in the European Union. The idea is to have an internationally recognized labeling system.
NaTrue is an industry platform for standards and network of all who are working to carry out the same high ethical and ecological principles. Another major mission for NaTrue is to ensure that the highest quality of raw materials, essential in producing natural cosmetics, are readily available and not carelessly up at risk y regulatory changes sponsored through European institutions and the E.U. member states.
NaTrue is formed by leading pioneers of natural cosmetic products in Europe (Laverana/Lavera, Logocos/Logona, Primavera, Santaverde, Wala/Dr. Hauschka and Weleda).
Cosmebio www.cosmebio.org
Is a trade association that represents producers of ecological and organic cosmetics. Their mission is to ensure that the consumer is exposed to certified cosmetic products containing natural ingredients and biological certified by an independent certification body.
Cosmebio also believes that nature should be respected. They do not conduct testing on animals and respect the natural balance. It is very important for them o provide their consumers with complete and transparent information on the ingredients used on all stages of the manufacturing process of the product. Every product that carries the label Bio and Eco will be clearly marked with the percentage of natural ingredients and organic ingredients used.
Ecocert www.ecocert.fr
This company looks to define a level of quality far superior to the one defined by the current French and European legislation on cosmetic products. One of Ecocert’s main objectives as well is to promote the use of Organic Agriculture plants and create a bond between certain cosmetic products and the respect for the environment. They also work on choosing natural and it’s origin over any other type of origin.
Ecocert is an affiliate inspection and certification body accredited to verify the conformity of organic products against the organic regulations of Europe, Japan, and the united States. Ecocert is an international certification body represented in France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Germany, and Spain. It also performs inspections and certifications on al continents in some 70 countries outside the European Union.
For more information on Ecocert’s Satndards for NAtural and Organic Cosmtics you can visit: http://www.ecocert.com/IMG/pdf/standards-en.pdf
If you’re interested in learning more about the Certifications and Organic Labeling Standards i suggest ow start with this reference.
ORGANIC (Ltd)……………….http://organic.com.au/certify/
Nowadays consumers are a bit more interested in making sure that the products they buy are the safest possible. By safe I mean safe for our bodies and our health. The bad news is that there is no way to ensure, right now anyways, that the products we buy which are labeled “natural” are in fact what they claim to be. The good news is that there are Organizations worldwide that are working hard to make sure that the “natural” and “organic” products available are of the finest and highest quality ingredients. Here is a short list of the most popular certifiers in the United States and Europe, just to name a few.UNITED STATES
Unfortunately there’s not much the FDA can do regarding certifications as they do not define the term “organic” for cosmetics, body care or personal care products. The USDA regulates cosmetics, body and personal care products as long as they are made up of agricultural ingredients, and can meet the USDA/ NOP organic production, labeling, processing standards.
For a product to obtain the USDA Organic seal it must follow the following: 100% organic, organic, made with organic ingredients and cannot use less than 70% organic ingredients in their products. The problem with these guidelines is the fact that they are very similar to the ones used on food.
Another issue with this organization is that it was called upon on the misuse of the term “organic” in personal care and cosmetics products. The Organic Consumers Association has informed that a large part of the products using organic in their product title and description are not certified. The consequences for manufacturers are many. For now, the main action taken is a boycott, announced by the Organic Consumers Association, which includes companies such as Organics by Noah’s Naturals, Nature’s Gate Organics, Amazon Organics and Avalon Organics.
Most if not all of the Organic Certifying Agencies in the U.S. do not offer certifications for natural cosmetics or personal care products.
For more information you may visit this link: http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5068442
EUROPE
Is an organization in Europe that looks to aid natural cosmetics manufacturers in the development of future regulatory directives worldwide. One of these concerns is the development of a proper use of the terms “natural cosmetics” and “bio/ organic cosmetics” in the European Union. The idea is to have an internationally recognized labeling system.
NaTrue is an industry platform for standards and network of all who are working to carry out the same high ethical and ecological principles. Another major mission for NaTrue is to ensure that the highest quality of raw materials, essential in producing natural cosmetics, are readily available and not carelessly up at risk y regulatory changes sponsored through European institutions and the E.U. member states.
NaTrue is formed by leading pioneers of natural cosmetic products in Europe (Laverana/Lavera, Logocos/Logona, Primavera, Santaverde, Wala/Dr. Hauschka and Weleda).
Is a trade association that represents producers of ecological and organic cosmetics. Their mission is to ensure that the consumer is exposed to certified cosmetic products containing natural ingredients and biological certified by an independent certification body.
Cosmebio also believes that nature should be respected. They do not conduct testing on animals and respect the natural balance. It is very important for them o provide their consumers with complete and transparent information on the ingredients used on all stages of the manufacturing process of the product. Every product that carries the label Bio and Eco will be clearly marked with the percentage of natural ingredients and organic ingredients used.
This company looks to define a level of quality far superior to the one defined by the current French and European legislation on cosmetic products. One of Ecocert’s main objectives as well is to promote the use of Organic Agriculture plants and create a bond between certain cosmetic products and the respect for the environment. They also work on choosing natural and it’s origin over any other type of origin.
Ecocert is an affiliate inspection and certification body accredited to verify the conformity of organic products against the organic regulations of Europe, Japan, and the united States. Ecocert is an international certification body represented in France, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Germany, and Spain. It also performs inspections and certifications on al continents in some 70 countries outside the European Union.
For more information on Ecocert’s Standards for NAtural and Organic Cosmtics you can visit: http://www.ecocert.com/IMG/pdf/standards-en.pdf
If you’re interested in learning more about the Certifications and Organic Labeling Standards i suggest ow start with ORGANIC (Ltd)
Related posts:
Posted by admin
on Nov 20th, 2009 and filed under NATURAL CERTIFICATION.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
I would have to disagree with your assessment of the USDA standard for organic. From my perspective that is the standard people want when they are buying organic skin and body care products.
If a personal care product meets the USDA standard then they know they are getting food standard certified organic product… what would be bad about that? The other standards are below that if they do not meet the food standard.
If I see the word “organic” on my skin and body care products I want them to meet the food standard. If you can’t eat it, then don’t put it on your skin.
To use the USDA logo on your product: the product contain at least 95% organically produced agricultural ingredients (excluding water and salt). The remaining ingredients (up to 5%) can be non-agricultural substances or non-organically produced agricultural ingredients, with strict processing criteria (eg: absolutely no GMOs or synthetics chemicals).
the levels:
100% organic
organic = contain at least 95% (with strict guidelines for the remaining ingredients
made with organic ingredients cannot be less than 70%
what higher standard can there be than food standard?