Whole Foods orders authenticity on organic claims for personal care products
Retailer requires third party certification on all organic claims
Organic food retailer Whole Foods Market has announced a new requirement for all personal care and cosmetic brands making organic claims for their products. As from 1st June 2011 brands in its US stores will be required to attain third party certification from the United States Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (USDA NOP), which also certifies organic food under US law.
Under the new guidelines, all products making an ‘organic’ or ‘made with organic ingredients’ claim will need the USDA NOP certification, while products making a ‘contains organic ingredients’ claim must be certified to the NSF 305 ANSI standard for organic personal care products.
“Our shoppers do not expect the definition of organic to change substantially between the food and non-food aisles of our stores,” said Joe Dickson, quality standards coordinator, Whole Foods. “We believe the strong organic claim used on personal care products should have just as strong a meaning as the organic claim used on food products, which is currently regulated by the USDA’s National Organic Program.”