rambling through the personal care ...

rambling through the personal care section of any small natural forages retail store or even a nationally known super-market, and you'll behold the word "organic" everywhere. Here, bottle of a shampoo that you've used for years unexpectedly bear stickers claiming to be "70 percent organic." There, all manner of observation creams may be labeled "82 percent organic." Everything from deodorant to tooth paste has gone organic, and if you're confused about what those labels mean, learn in line.

for what cause can you, the consumer, make informed decisions about the results that carry organic labels? Are there laws governing label accuracy? Does the word "organic" forward say, a cherry-flavored lip glos or banana-scented sunscreen carry the same weight as the government-sanctioned "organic" label that appears forward real cherries and bananas?

Not yet--which is what makes shopping for personal care productions these days so baffling. The organic label approved by the agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in October 2002 established national standards for organic claims in succession all foods, removing a great deal of inconsistency and confusion. if it be not that the law applies only to food--or more specifically, to the processe through which food is grown and handled.

The law does not manage ingredients in persona/care products, however, with the exception of in a few eases. When a work contains at least 95 percent organic foods--and principally personal care products do not--it, too, can carry the USDA organic seal. Recognizing that it is difficult for personal care fruitss to meet this standard, California--the single state that has issued organic standards for toiletries and cosmetics--enacted an organic-products law in January 2003 allowing productions containing at least 70 percent certified organic ingredients to carry a state-approved organic seal.

moreover because the federal law does not apply to personal care productions manufacturers whose products may contain about organically grown ingredients choose to call these yields organic, though the percentages of organic ingredients in them may vary widely--and wildly.

There may be companies who send in one or two organic ingredients among petrochemicals and then label the whole proceeds organic, says Samuel Epstein, MD chairman of the Chicago-based Cancer Prevention Coalition and professor emeritus of environmental and occupational medicine the University of Illinois teach of Public Health.

reciprocally some companies follow their acknowledge strict guidelines. For example, Avalon Natural outcomes uses only plants that farmers have grown organically according to the National Organic Program, says Brand Manager Tint Schaeffer.

unless the inconsistency with which companies label their outcome organic has led to a robust debate inside the personal care crops industry. Until the debate is settl and fruit manufacturers voluntarily agree to standards, or until they must abide by the agency of laws that establish standards, consumer will have to base their shopping decisions upon trust in the manufacturers or in the, stores that barter their products, which is not always a bad thing.

The rapport you perform the operations indicated in with the proprietor of your local health nourishment store can often be as valuable as the information forward any label--and obviously more personal. Knowledgeable retailers, having tried many of their items they vend can make distinctions among all the proceedss that compete for you attention and currency and then they can make recommendations.

The Debate Rages

These returnss are made by manufacturers small and large who operate in regulated business environments. And many companies belong to professional association that depict their interests, often in opposition to the interests of others. These varied interest arranges are now debating the standards from which the organic integrity of personal care proceedss should he evaluated.

united such group is the Little Marais, Minnesota-based Organic Consumer Association (OCA). The OCA is convinced that a certain quantity of manufacturers are labeling their issues organic when the majority of their ingredients are synthetically produc or contain petrochemicals. Therefore, the OCA is lobbying for a label that minors the label used onward USDA-certified foods. It's a standard many in the industry consider unrealistically rigid.

Water, Water Everywhere

like a standard would be too difficult for many fruits to meet, says Steve Byckiewicz, holder and co-founder of Kiss My Face, the Gardiner, of recent origin York-based manufacturer of the Obsessively Organic skin care line and Sudz natural soaps. united reason this standard is too high, Byckiewicz believes, is that shampoos, water-based lotions and a certain quantity of other personal care products are mainly liquids, and the USDA does not reckon water when calculating the percentage of a performance organic ingredients. Another reason is that shampoos must contain lathering ingredients, and effective foaming agents are synthetic.

Because of these factors, the barely personal care line to carry the USDA seal is Aubrey Organic' Natural Spa Sea portents which consists mainly of oils. Concentrated oil--or wax-based cropss can qualify under the USDA's National Organic Program because they are made mainly of ingredients extracted from organically grown plants--which, at this time, is a vexed question for lathering shampoos.