As hard as it is to determine the accuracy of foods categorized as organic, it is even more difficult when it comes to personal care products. And now some in the industry have come up with a new system of certification that is extremely deceptive, making the issues of purchasing and using truly organic skin-care products even more confusing for consumers. It is known as the Oasis Standard (in no way associated with Oasis Advanced Wellness), and is designed to pull the wool over the eyes of the buying public.
According to Organic Consumers Association, the OCA has issued Cease and Desist letters to the companies who tested positive for Dioxane that make organic brand or label claims: Jason Pure, Natural & Organic; Avalon Organics; Natures Gate Organics; Kiss My Face Obsessively Organic; Juice Organics, Giovanni Organic Cosmetics; Head Organics; Desert Essence Organics; Ikove Organic; Stella McCartney CARE 100% Organic; Estee Lauder. The OCA has also sent Cease and Desist letters to companies and certifiers that did not test positive for Dioxane contamination, but who regardless use petrochemical compounds in conventional cleansing ingredients in products with organic branding claims, including: Juice Organics; Avalon Organics; Kiss My Face Obsessively Organic; Desert Essence Organics; Head Organics; Ikove Organic and the certifier Ecocert. Learn more about 1,4-Dioxane by reading our fact sheet here, and for a list of ingredients to look out for on a product label that will indicate the likely presence of 1,4-Dioxane, click here.
As corporations continue to see dollar signs in the organic and natural markets, it is increasingly important for us to know and understand the sources and ingredients of the products we use on or put into our bodies. Unfortunately, when the profit motive is put before the health and welfare of the customer, it is not always wise to trust the claims of many manufacturers - even those in the natural health industry. Once again the phrase Buyer Beware becomes an appropriate guideline when it comes to finding legitimately organic personal care products.
Industry Creates New Bogus "OASIS" Organic Standard for Personal Care Products
Organic Consumers Association, 3/14/2008
The OASIS standard was spearheaded and created exclusively by conventional industry members like Estee Lauder (owner of Aveda), LOreal and Hain (Jason, Avalon), without any input or comment period from organic consumers, organic farmers or personal care companies who have achieved USDA National Organic Program certification for the majority of their products.
The OASIS standard allows a product to be labeled outright as Organic (rather than Made with Organic Specified Ingredients) even if it contains hydrogenated and sulfated cleansing ingredients like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate made from conventional agricultural material grown with synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, and preserved with synthetic petrochemical preservatives like Ethylhexylglycerin and Phenoxyethanol. [Reference: OASIS Standard section 6.2 and AntiMicrobial List]
Products certified under the OASIS standard must only contain 85% organic content, which means that organic water extracts and aloe vera will greenwash conventional synthetic cleansing ingredients and preservatives, since the water content of water/ detergent based personal care products like bodywashes and shampoos represents around 85% of the product. The OASIS standard is not merely useless but deliberately misleading to organic consumers looking for a reliable indicator of true organic product integrity in personal care.
Organic consumers expect that cleansing ingredients in products labeled Organic be made from organic not conventional agriculture, to not be hydrogenated or sulfated, and to be free from synthetic petrochemical preservatives.
OASIS claims to be the first U.S. organic beauty care standard. In actuality, the USDA National Organic Program has been certifying personal care products for over four years. This year, in particular, marks a watershed, because in 2008 there are more genuinely organic products on the market, bearing the USDA Organic seal on the front label than ever before.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10886.cfm
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