Bronner Organic Lawsuit

A long-simmering dispute over the definition of organic personal care products boiled over into court Monday, when Dr. Bronner’s
Magic Soaps filed a lawsuit charging many of its competitors with deceptively marketing their soaps and lotions. The lawsuit - filed
in San Francisco Superior Court - targeted many widely known cosmetic manufacturers including Estee Lauder, Kiss My Face,
Hain Celestial and Stella McCartney America. It also named smaller firms such as Mill Valley-based Juice Beauty. In the suit,
Dr. Bronner’s accused the firms of false advertising by labelling products “organic” that contain relatively little organic material, that
contain synthetic chemicals, or that use petrochemicals in processing.
“This is the corrosive marketing of the cosmetics industry that hollowed out the meaning of ‘natural’ and now is doing the same
with ‘organic’,” said David Bronner, president of the 60-year-old company.
The lawsuit is evidence of the growing clout of green consumers, particularly in the arena of personal care products. Sales of
natural body care products grew from $499 million in 2004 to $685 million in 2006 - an increase of 37 percent, according to the
consumer products research firm Mintel.
Chasing consumers
Both large and small companies have been wooing eco-minded consumers, with big corporations including Estee Lauder
acquiring brands such as Aveda that market themselves as natural or organic. At the same time, though, there are no federal
regulations governing either natural or organic personal care products.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture sets strict standards for organic food. But it doesn’t have a similar standard for soaps,
shampoos and cosmetics. Some firms like Dr. Bronner’s have voluntarily adopted the USDA’s organic food standard for their
body care products, which requires that 95 percent of the ingredients be organic if a product is to call itself organic. Some other
firms like Juice Beauty adhere to California’s standard for organic body care products, which is less demanding than the USDA
food standard. And still other firms simply label their body care products organic without trying to meet any external guidelines.
Who decides what’s organic?
Among the issues raised in the suit are whether organic personal care products must contain a certain percentage of organic
ingredients, whether they may contain petrochemicals and whether they may contain synthetic preservatives. An OASIS
spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit because she hadn’t yet seen it, but denied trying to mislead anyone.
Meanwhile, some companies questioned Dr. Bronner’s right to define organic.

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