OCA exposes phony organic products

(NaturalNews) The organic products sector continues to boom, but not everything with the word “organic” on its label is truly organic. If a product does not bear the USDA organic certification seal, it is difficult to determine whether or not it is truly organic. The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is working to expose phony organic products and brands through its “Coming Clean Campaign” which aims to clean up the natural and organic personal care industry. Currently, there are no set standards for what constitutes a “natural” or “organic” personal care product, other than for those that are USDA certified organic. As opposed to food products which are better regulated, natural care products often contain the words “natural” or “organic” either in their brand names or somewhere on their labels even when their primary, active ingredients are synthetically derived from petrochemical compounds. Last year, the USDA National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) made formal recommendations that the National Organic Program begin to regulate personal care products as it does food products in order to ensure that products being marketed as organic receive some sort of independent certification to prove that the claim is true. OCA immediately responded to this recommendation by launching its own boycott of the major “organic cheater” brands. Recently, OCA conducted a demonstration outside Natural Products Expo West, the largest convention of manufacturers, retailers, buyers and suppliers in the natural and organic products industry. OCA representatives held giant, five-foot-tall “sham”poo bottles at the entrance to the convention and passed out informational flyers to passersby about the products being featured at the expo that were not truly organic. Some of the brands and products exposed by OCA as being “organic cheaters” include: Jason Pure, Natural and Organic Avalon Organics Kiss My Face Obsessively Organic Nature’s Gate Organics Stella McCartney 100% Organic Giovanni Organic Hair Care Head Organics Desert Essence Organics Ilike Organic Skin Care Eminence Organic Organic Wear Sapien Certified Organic Organic Bath Co. Goodstuff Organics Though some of these brands and their respective product lines contain a few items that are USDA certified organic, the vast majority are labeled “organic” despite the fact that they are composed of synthetic and petrochemical ingredients rather than truly organic, agricultural material. Companies are selling these phony “organic” products at a premium and deceiving consumers. OCA has also prepared a spreadsheet outlining “organic cheater” brands and how they rate on the Hazard Ranking scale designed by the Environmental Working Group’s “Skin Deep” Cosmetic Safety Database. OCA also performed tests on products labeled “natural” and “organic” to see if they contained the toxic 1,4-dioxane contaminant commonly found in conventional consumer products. The results of that study were released in a recent Consumer Alert . More information about consumer care products is available at OCA’s Coming Clean Campaign .

Organic cheaters exposed by public protest at health products trade show

(NaturalNews) The Organic Consumers Association has long fought against what it calls “organic cheater brands” — personal care products that use the name “organic” in the product name or brand, yet are not truly organic products at all. This year at the Expo West Natural Products Expo in Anaheim, California, the OCA staged a very visible public protest to expose what it calls “sham poo products” that are “organic cheaters.” The protest was part of the OCA’s Coming Clean Campaign which continues to expose dishonest or misleading products in the skin care industry. Due in large part to the OCA’s efforts, Whole Foods now says it will enforce honest labeling by taking a closer look at the word “organic” on personal care products (http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/index.cfm). I was present at the protest, where I spoke with some of the participants and captured some video footage of the action. You can watch the full video right now on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BaO_fnQTnI What really happened at the protest The protest was largely peaceful, and even though police did search the protestors — a violation of their 4th Amendment rights — they did not make any arrests. New Hope Media , the company that organizes the Expo West trade show each year, dispatched staffers to act as human shields to visually block the protest signs by standing in front of them. I attempted to get some of the New Hope Media personnel to explain why they were standing in front of the signs, asking them if they were attempting to block the signs, and they told me that they actually had no intention of blocking anything, that they were just “standing here” for no particular reason. (Yeah, right…) They couldn’t say, of course, that the “organic cheater” brands whose signs they were blocking also happened to be some of the largest paying exhibitors at the show, and these show organizers were no doubt attempting to shield these companies from being publicly shamed. That act alone raises the all-important question: Why is New Hope Media protecting organic cheater brands? There’s something you need to know about the Expo West trade show: That show has an on-duty FDA officer who runs around the show threatening companies that make truthful health claims on their product labels. New Hope Media is apparently quite content with an FDA tyrant running around the show threatening people for telling the truth, but when the Organic Consumers Association tries to expose the truth about organic cheater brands, New Hope Media places itself in the position of defending the cheaters! Why is it illegal to tell the truth at Expo West, but it’s perfectly fine for some companies to lie to consumers through misleading product names… and New Hope Media will actually go to bat for those cheaters by sending people onto the street to disrupt a public protest that exposes the lies! I find this all quite fascinating. Expo West is a terrific trade show with lots of really great companies sharing their health products, but it does seem that New Hope Media is eroding its own credibility by going to bat for organic cheater brands. Instead of defending organic cheater brands, the company might do itself a favor by requiring them to have honest labels before they can exhibit at the show! Watch the video yourself to see the signs being blocked by New Hope Media employees (the guys in the suits): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BaO_fnQTnI How the products really scored The OCA has published an online spreadsheet detailing the test results of many personal care products to show their “Skin Deep Hazard Rating” — a score that indicates the presence of potentially hazardous or toxic chemicals in product formulations. A score of 7 or higher is considered bad enough to earn that product a “don’t buy this” rating. A score of 2 or lower is considered very good. Check out the spreadsheet yourself here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tilffYceF9_7vHToVFQii1Q&gid=1 (Click on the brand names at the top of the spreadsheet to see the score results for each brand.) Join the Organic Consumers Association’s boycott of brands The OCA maintains a boycott against the following brands, which it characterizes as “fake organic brands”: • Avalon “Organics” • Desert Essence “Organics” • Earth’s Best “Organic” • Eminence “Organic” (Except Few w/USDA Seal) • Giovanni “Organic” • Goodstuff “Organics” • Head “Organics” • Jason “Pure, Natural and Organic” • Kiss My Face “Obsessively Organic” • Nature’s Gate “Organics” • Physicians Formula “Organic” Wear • Stella McCartney “100% Organic” NaturalNews urges readers to join in this boycott and avoid buying these brands until they reformulate to be truly organic (USDA organic). Note carefully that even the Kiss My Face “Obsessively Organic” products are not considered truly organic by the OCA. Don’t trust product names alone, as brand names and product names may be misleading. Good organic brands to buy Here are some of the honest organic brands you may wish to support through the purchasing of their products: • Alteya Organics • Baby Bear Shop • Badger • Brittanie’s Thyme • Bubble and Bee Organic • Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps • Earth Mama Angel Baby • Indian Meadow Herbals • Intelligent Nutrients • Kimberly Parry Organics • Little Angel • Mercola • Miessence Certified Organics • Nature’s Paradise • OGmama and OGbaby • Organicare • Organic Essence • Origins Organics • Purely Shea • Rose Tattoo Aftercare • SoCal Cleanse • Sensibility Soaps / Nourish • Terressentials • Trillium Organics • Vermont Soap Stay informed at the OCA’s Coming Clean Campaign web page: http://www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/index.cfm And share the protest video with others, as they will be interested to know which “organic cheater” brands are being exposed by the OCA. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BaO_fnQTnI In addition to reading NaturalNews.com, stay informed about this topic at www.OrganicConsumers.org