popular brands sued for mislabeling "organic" products

iri9109

New Member
i saw this on BGLH via Jezebel...sorry if its been posted already.
:Some shocking news coming out of California. Reposted from Jezebel.com;

Beauty products are far less regulated than you might think, and now several popular companies are being sued over their use of the word “organic.” While manufacturers claim their products are more natural than that of their competitors, a watchdog group found many products don’t have the required amount of organic ingredients, and some even contain potentially toxic chemicals.

Last week the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) filed a class action lawsuit against 26 cosmetics companies for allegedly violating a California law that says products must contain at least 70% organic ingredients to use the term on packaging. Use of the label has been in dispute for years, and according to the Associated Press, and the federal government never established rules for what constitutes an organic beauty product. Then again, the USDA has approved standards instituted in California in 2003.

CEH decided to file the suit after its researchers performed tests on beauty items bought at several Bay Area stores including Target, Walgreens, and Whole Foods. Based on their ingredients lists, these “organic” products contained very few, or in some cases no ingredients considered organic. The group said in a press release:

Some of the “organic” labeled products contain ingredients linked to health concerns.
For example, a “Kids Hair Softening System” made by the company “Organics by Africa’s Best” contains BHA and cocamide DEA, chemicals that have been classified as cancer-causing by government agencies, triethanolamine, which has caused asthma in exposed workers, and parabens, chemicals that have disrupted hormones in laboratory tests. The package, colorfully decorated with images of young girls, warns: “Keep away from eyes. Can cause blindness…Serious injury can result…if ingested…” and “Keep out of reach of children.”
CEH has compiled a list of all 26 brands named in the suit and an example of one of the allegedly mislabeled items, though there are many more. If you’ve bought any ostensibly natural beauty product in the past few years, there’s a good chance items made by these companies are in your bathroom.

Advantage Research Laboratories, Inc./Murray’s Worldwide, Inc.: Parnevu T-Tree No Lye Conditioning Relaxer System
Aubrey Organics, Inc: Collagen & Almond Enriching Moisturizing Lotion
Beauty Without Cruelty/Lotus Brands, Inc: Organic Aromatherapy Facial Cleanser
Boots Retail USA Inc: Boots Amazon Forest Brazil Nut & Vanilla Body Wash
California Inside & Out, Inc: Out of Africa Handwash Tea Tree with Essential Oil
Colomer U.S.A.: Crème of Nature Kiwi & Citrus Ultra Moisturizing Shampoo
Cosway Company, Inc/Head Organics Company: Clearly Head Conditioner
Curls, LLC: Curlicious Curls Cleansing Cream Organic Shampoo
derma e® Natural Bodycare/Stearns Products, Inc: Psorzema Body Wash
Hain Celestial Group: Jason Thin-to-Thick Conditioner and Baby Avalon Organics Silky Cornstarch Baby Powder
House of Cheatham, Inc: Organics by Africa’s Best Hair Mayonnaise
International Trade Routes of New York, Inc/Laboratorios Phergal: Naturtint Green Technologies Permanent Hair Colorant
Kinky-Curly Hair Care: Kinky-Curly Spiral Spritz
Kiss My Face Corporation: Hold Up Styling Mousse
Lafe’s Natural BodyCare/Lafe T. Larson, Inc: Deodorant Stone With Holder
Morrocco Method, Inc: Euro Organic Oil Simply Pure Hair & Scalp Therapy
Namasté Laboratories: Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Pak
Nature’s Baby Products, Inc: Nature’s Baby ORGANICS Shampoo & Body Wash in Vanilla-Tangerine Scent or Lavender-Chamomile Scent
Nubian Heritage Group/Sundial Group LLC: Coconut & Papaya with Vanilla Bean Extract Body Wash
Nutrition Resource, Inc. dba NutriBiotic: NutriBiotic Everyday Clean Conditioner Botanical Blend
Rainbow Research Corporation: Rainbow Baby Oh Baby Unscented Organic Herbal Shampoo
Renpure, L.L.C: Renpure Organics I Love My Hair! Body and Shine Shampoo
Strength of Nature Global, LLC: Elasta QP Intense Fortifying Hair Conditioning Treatment
Sundial Brands/Sundial Group LLC: Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo
The Himalaya Drug Company: Organique by Himalaya Toothpaste
Todd Christopher International, Inc/Vogue International: Hydrating Teatree Mint Conditioner
If these claims are proven to be true, these brands are going to have plenty of pissed-off consumers to answer to. (And there will probably be quite a few easy-going hippies among them.) While these companies paint themselves as some sort of conscience-pleasing “alternative” (as opposed to huge manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson or Unilever), it appears that they may have slapped on an “organic” label just to scam people into shelling out a bit more for toothpaste and shampoo.


interesting...most of the time when i see organic in the title, or on the label of a product i give it a side-eye.com, but i'm kinda surprised by some of the names on here...and some are pretty popular here on the board
 
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Good! I see a few lines up there that I use,(nutriBiotics,beauty without cruelty,out of Africa). While I don't use the products mentioned from the lines,I would be upset if I made it a point to us these products because of the organic label,only to have been duped. Large corporations can be so selfish and ruthless.
 
WOW! Shea Moisture shampoo?! Really? I've heard of some of these companies not being fully organic or leaving ingredients off of the labels (like Aubrey Organics) but I'm very surprised by the Shea Moisture listing for some reason. If I read that correctly, they're only listing ONE product from each line, though there are in fact more? I don't use the SM Raw Shea shampoo, but I love the SM shampoo with the pink label (Curl and Shine maybe...can't remember the name off the top of my head). Maybe I'm taking this harder than I should, but I'm blown right now.
 
WOW! Shea Moisture shampoo?! Really? I've heard of some of these companies not being fully organic or leaving ingredients off of the labels (like Aubrey Organics) but I'm very surprised by the Shea Moisture listing for some reason. If I read that correctly, they're only listing ONE product from each line, though there are in fact more? I don't use the SM Raw Shea shampoo, but I love the SM shampoo with the pink label (Curl and Shine maybe...can't remember the name off the top of my head). Maybe I'm taking this harder than I should, but I'm blown right now.

i think specifically the names they listed are the products they brought up in the suit, but other products from the line could possibly be misrepresented as well...i still like shea moisture (havent tried the poos yet), but i don't think i like the idea of them lying to the masses about ingredients.
 
There is a website that has all the REAL organic products...I just dont remember what it was and foolishly I never saved it in my favorites.
 
Hmmmm, idk. I know if a product wants to be CERTIFIED as organic it has to meet the 70% organic ingredients criteria. But to USE the word organic is up to the discretion of the manufacturer.

I'm not surprised that that many companies are on the list based on the definition they gave, but it does seem the only chose certain products from certain lines. If they're singling out the Olive Oil Replenishing Pak, they would have to condemn the whole line because every product in the line has ORGANIC Root Stimulator on it. And I wonder why they are sticking on the "organic" aspect. Many consumers use "organic" and "natural" interchangeably (and under the assumption that natural is better), so why not go after not natural "natural" labeled products also.
 
iri9109...oh, alright, that makes me feel a little better. However, like you, I'm more upset about being lied to than the actual ingredients. I'm not a "chemical hater" by any means. I use what I like, period. I can't think of one ingredient that I absolutely refuse to use...which is all the more reason to NOT lie about it!
 
:naughty: @ Shea Moisture for misrepresenting their products, but I'll still be a loyal customer. Don't judge me. That stuff is my hair crack. Organic or not.
 
Hmmmm, idk. I know if a product wants to be CERTIFIED as organic it has to meet the 70% organic ingredients criteria. But to USE the word organic is up to the discretion of the manufacturer.

I'm not surprised that that many companies are on the list based on the definition they gave, but it does seem the only chose certain products from certain lines. If they're singling out the Olive Oil Replenishing Pak, they would have to condemn the whole line because every product in the line has ORGANIC Root Stimulator on it. And I wonder why they are sticking on the "organic" aspect. Many consumers use "organic" and "natural" interchangeably (and under the assumption that natural is better), so why not go after not natural "natural" labeled products also.

i think the products named are the only ones they tested, so while other ORS products might be mislabelled too, they didnt test it and so its not included ...also the suit was filed in california, and its only a california law that requires the 70% i guess...cali is very strict..the other day i looked at some shoes online from a company based in california and under the product it was a link to a product notice that said certain states require warnings if products contain chemicals over a certain threshold and that the shoes had chemicals known in california to cause cancer and birth defects, and for illinois there was a notice that they contained lead :perplexed
 
kinky-curly? awwwww damn! I wonder what isn't organic in it?

it only said the spiral spritz, not kccc or kckt (even though its probably b/c they didnt test it ), but i looked up the ingredients for the spritz and im wondering what they lied about or left out...or maybe the amount of organic ingredients (not including water) dont add up to 70% of the product.

Lavender water, extracts of horsetail, nettles and sage, aloe vera gel, vitamin B-5, glycerin, citric acid, and grapefruit seed extract
 
Hmmmm, idk. I know if a product wants to be CERTIFIED as organic it has to meet the 70% organic ingredients criteria. But to USE the word organic is up to the discretion of the manufacturer.

I'm not surprised that that many companies are on the list based on the definition they gave, but it does seem the only chose certain products from certain lines. If they're singling out the Olive Oil Replenishing Pak, they would have to condemn the whole line because every product in the line has ORGANIC Root Stimulator on it. And I wonder why they are sticking on the "organic" aspect. Many consumers use "organic" and "natural" interchangeably (and under the assumption that natural is better), so why not go after not natural "natural" labeled products also.

i didnt think ors and that organics africas best crap was meant to be interpreted as all natural organic products anyhow... like "doo gro" and products with that naming scheme
 
i think the products named are the only ones they tested, so while other ORS products might be mislabelled too, they didnt test it and so its not included ...also the suit was filed in california, and its only a california law that requires the 70% i guess...cali is very strict..the other day i looked at some shoes online from a company based in california and under the product it was a link to a product notice that said certain states require warnings if products contain chemicals over a certain threshold and that the shoes had chemicals known in california to cause cancer and birth defects, and for illinois there was a notice that they contained lead :perplexed

Oh ok. I thought maybe they were talking about this was a national thing or something. I think the 70% to be certified organic is from the USDA and it's only if you want the seal. But if Cali is saying all labels need it, then I understand.

Something else I though about is that a particular ingredient can be organic even if the product that contains it is not. Maybe that's what some of the companies were doing so they could still be called "organic".
But I still think most consumers would know that just because a product says it's organic doesn't mean it is. I mean, nothing about ORS seems remotely organic to me (but that could be because I live close to the headquarters and no they are not growing and processing their own olive oil lol).
 
i think companies like using the word "organic" because its trendy now because ppl are more environmentally conscious and aware of what they put on an in their bodies, but then they put one drop of organic tea tree oil in it and then put "made with 100% organic ingredients" which is partially true because the tea trea oil was 100% organic, but its misleading...they would be better off using natural than organic, considering something can fit the natural criteria, but not be organic...

labels are just so tricky...like fruit of the earth "aloe vera gel" says aloe vera on top and then 100% gel on the bottom
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so someone might think its 100% aloe vera gel, when really its just 100% gel (whatever that means) , because the ingredients are:
Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) Gel, Triethanolamine, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Carbomer 940, Tetrasodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin, Diazolidinyl Urea
 
I recently discovered that grapeseed oil is hardly organic (mine is "pure and natural") and non organic grapes have the max quantity of pesticides. I looked for an organic grapeseed oil and the price was considerably different, because it appears to be rare.
 
i just bought some jojoba oil from amazon and i do wonder if thats actual pure jojoba oil. im just hoping for the best and that the fact that a tiny bottle cost like six dollars speaks to authenticity
 
I recently discovered that grapeseed oil is hardly organic (mine is "pure and natural") and non organic grapes have the max quantity of pesticides. I looked for an organic grapeseed oil and the price was considerably different, because it appears to be rare.

Ugh....one more item off my list.....well, unless I buy organic gs oil.
 
Luckily, I'm not a big "organic" person. I've often wondered how products like CURLS, ORS, Kid's Organics, KCCC could get away with claiming organic status. They don't even look, sound (as in the ingredients) or smell organic. A little surprised at Aubrey but HAPPY they popped CON for that mess they call organic shampoo and conditioner! YESSSS! Bet they'll want to bring back the original now! tee hee

iri9109 - LMAO at the "100% Gel" That's baaaaad.
 
I use Nature's Baby Organics: Conditioner & Detangler on DD's hair. The shampoo was on that list, but the conditioner was not. I never use the shampoo, but I really hope the conditioner is good. The bottle actually says "Made with more than 70% Certified Organic Ingredients."

DD has serious eczema, and this line is supposedly good for kids with very sensitive skin. I'm going to research this. Thanks for starting this thread OP!
 
I find it odd that they are going after some of these companies simply based on the brand name containing the word organic. I would think that they would be addressing claims of the specific products being organic.

Why are they going after "organic" only though?

What about product's with Africa in the brand name that are manufactured by American white owned corporations and containing no particularly african ingredients? Can they go after them too. What about ones with natural in the title and the product contains 99% synthetic materials with a pinch of shea butter.

I personally think that companies should be able to call themselves whatever they want, as long as the don't explicitly state the product as something it is not. The rest should fall on the shoulders of the consumer.
 
I find it odd that they are going after some of these companies simply based on the brand name containing the word organic. I would think that they would be addressing claims of the specific products being organic.

Why are they going after "organic" only though?

What about product's with Africa in the brand name that are manufactured by American white owned corporations and containing no particularly african ingredients? Can they go after them too. What about ones with natural in the title and the product contains 99% synthetic materials with a pinch of shea butter.

I personally think that companies should be able to call themselves whatever they want, as long as the don't explicitly state the product as something it is not. The rest should fall on the shoulders of the consumer.

i saw this on cosmeticsdesign.com in reference to the suit.
The California Organic Products Act of 2003 outlines rules for labeling of organic personal care products, requiring that any product using the term ‘organic’ on the front of the package must contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients. Products with less than 70 percent organic ingredients may only use the term ‘organic’ on the ingredient list.
http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Mark...etic-companies-violating-organic-labeling-law
so while it may not be a problem in other states, california requires products to meet certain standards for the word organic to appear on the front of the package (which would include the tile).

direct from the CA organic products act, 2003

110839. Multi-ingredient cosmetic products sold as organic in
California with less than 70 percent organically produced
ingredients, by weight or by fluid volume, excluding water and salt,
may only identify the organic content as follows
:


(a) By identifying each organically produced ingredient in the
ingredient statement with the word "organic" or with an asterisk or
other reference mark that is defined below the ingredient statement
to indicate the ingredient is organically produced.


(b) If the organically produced ingredients are identified in the
ingredient statement, by displaying the product's percentage of
organic contents on the information panel.

so organic can't be in the title or anywhere on the package other than the ingredient list if the requirements arent met and it's to be sold in the state of california...which all those products are
 
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