NOP Urged to Create Standards for Use of Organic on Personal Care Products

In winter, the USDA National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) passed a recommendation that urges the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) to make sure that any use of the word “organic” on a personal care product is backed up by third-party certification to USDA organic standards.

According to the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), the current recommendation says that “at a given retailer, one may find personal care products such as shampoos and lotions labeled as ‘organic’ with no clear standards or regulatory underpinning for the organic claim – and unless the product is specifically labeled as ‘USDA Organic,’ the word ‘organic’ may be used with impunity. Manufacturers of personal care products that contain organic ingredients are hindered by a thicket of competing private standards and confusion regarding the applicability of the NOP to their products. Transactions lack the regulatory clarity that applies under the NOP to food products that contain organic ingredients.”

For more information, visit www.organicconsumers.org/bodycare/index.cfm