2008: The Year of Green Personal Care

"WASHINGTON, Jan 07, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Organic Consumers Association (OCA), representing more than 500,000 members, is pleased that consumers will have more choices than ever before of high quality USDA organic personal care products, such as soaps, lotions, cremes and balms in 2008. Organic synthetic-free personal care products which comply with the USDA's National Organic Program's (NOP) strict standards for organic food, will be more widely available as manufacturers have begun to catch up with consumer demand. Personal care companies may represent that they are NOP certified "organic" and display the USDA organic seal, or "made with organic," so long as such products are certified to meet the NOP standards.

"We are pleased that despite widespread misleading organic claims on shampoos, body washes and lotions made with synthetic surfactants, silicones and preservatives, numerous companies have stepped up to make real organic alternatives that will be widely available in 2008," said Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director of the OCA. "Organic consumers expect their organic personal care to be free of synthetic foaming agents and preservatives, and companies should not just add token organic ingredients on top of such synthetics to make organic product claims. Consumers should look for the "USDA Organic" seal on products if they want to be certain they are truly organic. Some of the organic brands that we recommend in 2008 include Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, Sensibility Soaps, Terressentials, Origins Organics, Trillium Organic, BeeCeuticals Organics and Aura Cacia Organics. The majority of these brands' products are certified to the USDA gold standard," says Cummins."

Read the article