Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps has made good on its promise to pursue litigation against personal-care companies it says are making misleading organic labeling claims.

"The misleading organic noise created by culprit companies' branding and labeling practices" interferes with consumers' ability to zero in on organic products devoid of conventional or petrochemical material and synthetic preservatives, Dr. Bronner's asserts.

The suit, filed April 28 in California Superior Court, comes roughly a month after Dr. Bronner's and the Organic Consumers Association issued letters with ultimatums to the alleged organic "cheaters," requesting that they reformulate or revise their marketing claims to avoid legal action (¹ Also see "OCA Orders Organic “Cheaters,” Standard Setters To “Cease And Desist”" - HBW Insight, 24 March, 2008., p. 3).

"We have been deeply disappointed and frustrated by companies in the 'natural' personal care space who have been screwing over organic consumers, engaging in misleading organic branding and label call-outs on products that were not natural in the first place, let alone organic," company President David Bronner states.

Targeted companies Hain Celestial, Kiss My Face and Nature's Gate issued a joint May 1 statement emphasizing their support of "clear and verifiable standards for the use of the term 'organic' in personal-care products."

The companies point out, however, that several competing standards for organic personal-care products have emerged this year.

NSF International's guidelines were opened for comment in February (² Also see "NSF Organic Standards Extend Certification Opportunity To Personal Care" - HBW Insight, 4 February, 2008., p. 3). Canadian firm Certech Registration launched its standard - which it says expands upon quality controls built into certification schemes in Europe - in March (³ Also see "Certech’s Natural/Organic Standard Focuses USDA, Builds On Ecocert" - HBW Insight, 10 March, 2008., p. 4).

The Organic and Sustainable Industry Standards (OASIS) - touted as setting a new global standard for organic personal care - debuted most recently (⁴ Also see "OASIS Defines “Organic” Personal Care In U.S., Sets New Global Standard" - HBW Insight, 10 March, 2008., p. 3).

Hain and the other targeted companies note that none of the standards has been adopted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and incorporated into its National Organic Program.

Dr. Bronner's complaints, the companies suggest, lie more with the government's "lack of action" to settle the standards issue than with any wrongful business conduct on the part of its competitors. "We are confident that the allegations about our companies' products will be proven to be without merit," they say.

Bob MacLeod, CEO of Kiss My Face, adds: "We believe that collaboration and an open dialogue among industry participants, consumers and regulators - not litigation - is the best approach to developing meaningful organic personal-care standards."

OASIS also has been named in Bronner's lawsuit. The OASIS guidelines allow products to be certified as outright "Organic," versus "Made with Organic" materials, even if they contain non-organic cleansing agents and synthetic preservatives, according to Bronner's (⁵ Also see "OASIS Defends Organic Standard Against Consumer Group Claims" - HBW Insight, 31 March, 2008., p. 3).

OASIS creators have maintained since the issuance of OCA/Bronner's "cease and desist" letters that their standard is being "grossly" mischaracterized. The group also believes a "public policy" approach would more appropriately address the issues at hand than litigation.

In an e-mail to "The Rose Sheet," OASIS Chair Gay Timmons asserted that "just like the 25 years of private certification of 'organic' food that resulted in sufficient consensus to allow the industry to go into regulation, the cosmetic industry deserves the same access to normal public policy creation."

In explaining the rationale behind the lawsuit, OCA says "the pressure of imminent litigation ... prompted some serious discussion with some of the offending companies, but ultimately failed to resolve the core issues."

Timmons provided OASIS' view on OCA/Bronner's offer to abstain from litigation if the parties named agreed to specified terms for organic production: "I'm afraid this felt a bit more like extortion than a negotiation."

- Louisa Tavlas (L.Tavlas@elsevier.com)

Dr. Bronner’s Files Suit Against Alleged Organic “Cheaters,” As Forewarned

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