Natrue and Natural Products Association Join Forces
May 22, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Greenwashing, Organic Industry
Natrue and NPA Join Forces
European certifier of ‘natural’ cosmetics Natrue has signed a mutual recognition agreement with the Natural Products Association (NPA) in the US, meaning that products complying with the standards of either of these bodies will not have to undergo the full certification process again when they wish to market their products across the Atlantic. Natrue also signed an equivalency agreement with Quality Assurance International (QAI) certifiers earlier in the year.
I am not Natrue’s biggest fan. Their standards are abysmally weak
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Organic Cosmetic Confusion
May 21, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Greenwashing, Organic Industry
Organic Certification Boom Confuses Consumers
The boom in organic certification schemes is counterproductive, confusing for consumers and draws attention away from producers of genuinely certified organic products, who are lost amongst larger competitors that dupe consumers with weak certification labels and false claims. “Certification wars” are well underway and on Cosmeticsdesign-europe.com you can see a video of Amarjit Sahota, director of organic market research organisation, Organic Monitor, discuss the issues involved. Sahota has called for the possibility of a global standard becoming a reality, but I am far from convinced unless the standards are stringent, official and enforced.
Report Reveals Greenwashing is Rife
May 6, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Greenwashing, Other News
Beware: Greenwashing on the Rise
A report published by North American environmental marketing firm TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, entitled The Seven Sins of Greenwashing (a follow up to the 2007 report, The Six Sins of Greenwashing) has revealed that the number of products making environmental claims has increased by an average of 79 percent in stores visited in 2007 and 2008, and 98 percent of products commit at least one of the Sins of Greenwashing highlighted in the report
TerraChoice researchers investigated retailers in the US, UK, Australia and Canada in November 2008 and January 2009, with instructions to record all Read more
Organic Products Found to Contain Parabens
March 10, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Organic Industry
'Organic' Products found to Contain Parabens
Premium Beauty News, a magazine for cosmetic industry insiders, has revealed that The French Agency for the Medical Safety of Health Products (AFSSAPS) and the General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumers and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) have published the results of a joint marketing survey, looking into the ‘preservative-free’ claims of ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ brands.
The survey looked at 30 cosmetic products, with 28 of these being certified organic (to standards such as Ecocert, BDIH, ICEA-AIAB and Visagro) and 6 being labelled as a ‘natural’ and/or ‘organic’ product. 12 claimed to be free Read more
Natrue and QAI Work on Recognition Agreement
February 24, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Greenwashing
Alliance between Certification Bodies
Natrue, an interest grouping of international cosmetic manufacturers, who have developed their own ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ standards, are working on a mutual recognition agreement with Quality Assurance International (QAI) in the US, to ensure that products complying with the Natrue or NSF/ANSI 305 ‘made with organic’ standard will be recognised by both bodies. The alliance is to cut costs and save time for manufacturers, according to the Natrue General Secretary.
Natrue was launched last year and 120 products have been certified already. Natrue represent cosmetic companies such as Lavera, Logona, Primavera, Read more
The Organic Greenwashing Game: Part One
February 23, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Greenwashing
The Organic Greenwashing Game
So, you’ve purchased a raft of delightfully fragrant and attractively packaged beauty products, lured by the promise of natural botanicals, but are you being conned?
We are becoming increasingly enamoured with beauty brands marketed as ‘natural’ and ‘organic,’ understandably anticipating that we are purchasing something that has undergone minimal processing in the period between being plucked from the earth and ploughed into a cosmetic formulation. According to market analysts Organic Monitor global sales of ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ cosmetics are increasing by over $1 billion a year, and it is forecast Read more
The Lowdown on Organic Brand Spiezia
February 13, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Alternative Brands, Organic Industry
Interview with Spiezia Founder
Spiezia Organics are are Cornwall-based manufacturer of 100 percent Soil Association certified Products. Co-owner Amanda answers some questions about the brand.
Q: How and why was Spiezia established?
The Spiezia Organic range was originally established some 10 years ago by Dr. Mariano Spiezia - a qualified medical Doctor who subsequently studied to practice homeopathic medicine, believing that the power of nature and herbs was a better and more powerful way to heal. Mariano had already Read more
Terressentials: Obstacles to Natural Beauty
February 8, 2009 by DawnM
Filed under Alternative Brands, Greenwashing, Organic Industry
Terressentials Organic Products
Diana Kaye and James Hahn, Founders of organic beauty brand Terressentials, explain the story behind their company and expose the flaws in the ‘natural’ beauty industry.
“Diana found herself highly reactive to synthetic chemicals after her successful, but highly toxic, experimental chemotherapy treatment for cancer almost twenty years ago. In researching how the cancer originated and how we could keep it at bay, at first we thought, we’ll just use natural products from a health food store. But, when we scrutinized the ingredients in those Read more
