The Truth About The Logos
Want the PROOF? Look at the Certificates!
We have had reports that another "organic" skin care company which is NOT a certified organic company, has been criticizing Organic Natural Enterprise for supplying the first certified organic skin care brand on the planet!
Here are excerpts from their website and our response in red to their comments.
Q1. What if there was a body care company that claimed to sell the only USDA certified skin care line? Would that be true? Would they be better than other brand?
Other brand reply: No and no.
ONE Group reply: Unless other brand is certified organic, how can they claim to be purer than 100% synthetic chemical free? You can’t be more assured of purity and integrity than with certified organic products!
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Q2. What if they said that they were the only skin care brand that can legally use the USDA organic seal? Would that be true?
Other brand reply: No, it absolutely would not be true. It's currently not legal to put the USDA certified organic seal on any product that isn't food. We think that it should be legal to use the logo on any product that truly meets the USDA standard for certified organic food, but that isn't the case.
ONE Group reply: Our products DO meet USDA requirements for food products, but just happen to be body care products! In April 2004, the USDA announced that cosmetic and body care products no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the USDA Standards. Our products were certified to USDA standards PRIOR to that announcement and, therefore, can legally bear the USDA logo until October 2005.
We find it ironic that whilst the other brand advocates applying the USDA standards to body care products, they denigrate a product that meets those standards! It seems to be a case of commercial sour grapes that they could not certify their products. We hope that companies like the other brand and our consumers will join us in pushing for cosmetic and body care products that are as stringent as organic food standards.
Want the PROOF? Look at the Certificates!
Q3. What if they put coco polyglucose, zinc oxide, iron oxides, grapefruit seed extract, sorbitan olivate, in their products and claimed that they used no synthetic ingredients? Would that be true?
Other brand reply: No, it most certainly wouldn't. Those are all synthetic chemicals. Those ingredients are not permitted in certified organic food products in any quantity. We don't use ingredients like that. Products with those ingredients do not meet the standards for certified organic food.
ONE Group reply: Coco polyglucose is used in our foaming products (shampoo and bodywash) which are not certified organic. Nor do we claim them to be. Sorbitan olivate is used in our hair conditioner, which, again, is not certified organic nor claimed to be organic. The zinc oxides and iron oxides are minerals, which are classified as non-agricultural ingredients, used to colour our cosmetics. The cosmetics are not certified organic because they contain more than 5% non-agricultural ingredients, but fall under the jurisdiction of “Registered Approved Products” because they contain more than 70% organic ingredients. Our grapefruit seed extract is certified organic, and therefore is an allowed ingredient in organic foods.
What garbage to claim grapefruit seed extract is a synthetic chemical. ED's Note
Want the PROOF? Look at the Certificates!
Q4. What if such a company claimed to be the only company that meets international organic standards for body care?
Other brand reply: There are no worldwide standards for organic body care, much less for food. Every country has different standards for foods and a few countries, led by corporate interests, have thrown together “standards” for personal care products that are an insult to intelligent consumers and true environmentalists. The UK, for example, has their Soil Association standards for personal care products; these standards are very lax, permitting oleochemicals AND petrochemicals, and don't come close to the USDA's organic food standards. The same is true for all other countries that claim to have body care “standards.”
ONE Group reply: There are no worldwide standards for organic foods. Our products meet the individual standards for all the certifying logos we display. We absolutely agree that the UK Soil Association Health and Beauty Care Standards are a disgrace, and allow an array of toxic chemicals that we wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole! We are strongly in favour of cosmetic and body care product being required to meet food standards in organics, not diluted cosmetic and body care standards
Want the PROOF? Look at the Certificates!
Health Report Comment
Well here we go again!
As though it isn't enough that we are always battling against the chemical companies and the toxic chemicals they use in their alphabet soup skin "care" products, we now find people on the same side of the "organic" fence trying to denigrate and belittle their own colleagues in this industry.
This smacks of professional jealousy and I am disturbed to see another so-called "organic" and "natural" skin "care" company stooping so low as to try to boost their own sales by attacking an industry leader like Organic Natural Enterprise.
ONE Group are to be congratulated for being THE FIRST manufacturer in THE WORLD to meet the standards as laid out by the USDA Organic for food grade products and to actually have a skin care product line classified as ORGANIC under the standards for food!
The truth of the matter is that when ONE Group applied for their skin care products to be classified as organic under the USDA Organic umbrella, the USDA did not have standards for skin care, so the company applied under the much tougher rules which apply to food. They succeeded much to the surprise of many so called "natural" and "organic" manufacturers of pseudo organic skin care products.
What this meant for the aware consumer seeking truly natural products was at long last they could be absolutely sure that NO SYNTHETIC CHEMICALS ARE ALLOWED in any of the skin care products Organic Natural Enterprise Group PL produce which carry the USDA Organic logo!
Let's get real about this. Just because Organic Natural Enterprise can legally display the USDA Organic logo doesn't give their competitors license to tell only part of the story when it comes to the actual facts of how they were able to obtain this prestigious certification.
Let's face it - if ONE Group's competitors had taken the initiative and had managed to have their own products Certified Organic under the food grade standards, then perhaps they would be proudly displaying the USDA Logo too! Of course they can't display the logo because they don't have the products that measure up. Most of them still contain either chemicals or the raw ingredients do not meet the standards required by ACO BFA or USDA for organic farming.
Perhaps the fact that a $10,000 fine is applicable if they do display the USDA ORGANIC Logo illegally puts them off from risking doing anything illegal with the USDA logo!
The truth would be appreciated rather than marketing hype from within the Organic Industry. We get enough hype and lies from the chemical soup manufacturers without so-called "natural" and "organic" producers getting on the hype bandwagon!
Geoff Goldie
Look for the logos -
Only LEGITIMATE Certified Organic Products can LEGALLY display them
Want the PROOF? Look at the Certificates!
