Products formulated with 95 percent "truly natural" ingredients that pose no suspected human health risks can apply to be certified "natural" under the Natural Products Association's newly released standard and certification program.

The initiative, launched May 1, is intended to help consumers distinguish between products manufactured according to "rigorous criteria" versus items for which "the only thing natural about them [is] the flower on the label," as suggested during a same-day press event by Brenda Brock, CEO of Farmaesthetics.

NPA says its guidelines will evolve along with the growing natural personal-care market (see chart: "¹ NPA's Natural Certification Program & Seal of Approval").

The organization defines "truly natural" ingredients as those derived from "a purposeful, renewable/plentiful source found in nature (flora, fauna, mineral)." Ingredients must be minimally processed so that their purity/effect is not significantly or adversely altered, NPA adds.

Up to 5 percent non-natural ingredients can be used under the association's standard as long as no viable, natural alternatives are available and the synthetic ingredient is not a suspected health threat.

While third-party certifiers in Europe have been applying varying sets of criteria to natural products for years, NPA's standard is the first to emerge in the U.S., Weleda North America CEO Erk Schuchhardt noted.

"The industry is reaching a certain critical size where we get noticed ... and we start feeling more and more the need to address consumer confusion on this issue," he said.

Consumers can expect NPA's seal to start appearing on products "in the coming months," the group says.

A "Living" Standard

NPA expects its criteria to evolve as the natural personal-care sector matures.

By May 1, 2010, NPA will no longer allow any synthetic ingredients in products claiming natural status, according to Mike Indursky, chief marketing officer at Burt's Bees and chair of NPA's natural standard advisory panel.

Also by 2010 the standard will require formal International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients on all product labeling.

The group aims to harmonize its guidelines with those of European certifiers such as BDIH (Germany), Ecocert (France) and the Soil Association (UK) within two years as well.

Indursky expanded on the importance of international harmonization. "You don't want to have a Girl Scout vest of badges on labels. That's what Europe is facing right now and they're having trouble harmonizing. Our goal is getting toward one standard," he said.

Further down the road, NPA's standard may incorporate free-trade expectations, the NPA reps suggested.

"If you are serious about natural and organic personal care, you have to rethink every step of your business - how you source ingredients, how you work with suppliers, how you produce and how you communicate," Schuchhardt remarked.

Currently NPA says it cannot require free-trade ingredients, as not enough are available to make personal-care products.

Once natural ingredient suppliers see there is a growing market for natural, sustainable and free-trade ingredients, they will be motivated to develop them, Jack Corly, executive VP at Trilogy Fragrances, suggested.

"The new standard will challenge the supply chain to be innovative," Corley said. It "provides opportunities for suppliers to develop commercially viable natural surfactants, emulsifiers, preservatives and foaming agent systems that really work."

NPA's guidelines bar the use of petrochemical compounds, parabens, pthalates, glycols, sodium lauryl sulfate, chemical sunscreens and ethoxolated ingredients.

While acknowledging that there are concerns about the safety of the prohibited ingredients, NPA holds that its standard is intended to police natural product claims rather than lay down the definitive word on what ingredients are safe for personal care.

NPA is taking "a precautionary approach" to the ingredients in question. "Why take a chance? Leave [them] out," said Curt Valva, general manager of Aubrey Organics.

Companies that apply for NPA's seal will provide documentation on their ingredients and proposed labels for their products to NPA and a third-party certifier.

NPA notes that "only brands with at least 60 percent of their products meeting the association's standard are permitted to use the seal, and the seal can only be used on those products that specifically meet the standard."

That provision is in place to ensure that a company's advertising does not mislead consumers into thinking an entire brand is certified natural simply because one or more products have received NPA's seal.

In July 2007 NPA and Burt's Bees vowed to complete a natural products standard within a year (² 'The Rose Sheet' July 30, 2007, In Brief).

- Molly Laas (m.laas@elsevier.com)

NPA Unveils First U.S. Standard For Natural Personal Care; Criteria Will Evolve

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