FTC 'All Natural' Claims Crackdown Nets Sunscreen Marketers
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Marketers should ensure they are not misleading consumers with "100% natural" or "all-natural" for products that contain synthetic ingredients, the agency says. FTC is settling with four firms over such claims on skin, hair and sunscreen products and issued a complaint against a fifth.
The Federal Trade Commission asserts that "100% Natural" and "All Natural" claims are false when used for sunscreen and other personal care products containing synthetic ingredients such as dimethicone and phenoxyethanol.
The agency April 12 announced its first actions against personal care product marketers for deceptive natural claims, including four pending settlements with firms that agreed to stop touting products as 100% natural or all-natural without competent and reliable evidence as substantiation.
"'All-natural' or '100 percent natural' means just that – no artificial ingredients or chemicals," says Jessica Rich, director of FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "Companies should take a lesson from these cases," she adds.
Importantly, the agency's proposed settlements pertain specifically to absolute natural claims – 100% or all-natural statements – rather than natural promotions in general.
An FTC spokesman said he is not aware of any plans at the agency to revisit the Green Guides in the near future or otherwise establish a definition for natural.
The companies in the process of settling with FTC, with offending claims on items including skin- and hair-care products and sunscreen are:
- Trans-India Products, Inc. , doing business as ShiKai Natural Hair and Skin Care, Santa Rosa, Calif.
- Erickson Marketing Group , dba Rocky Mountain Sunscreen, Aravada, Colo.
- ABS Consumer Products, LLC , dba EDEN BodyWorks; Memphis
- Beyond Coastal , Salt Lake City.
Dimethicone, used in the personal care sector as a hair and skin protectant and conditioning agent, is named in three of the cases as a synthetic ingredient in conflict with all-natural claims.
It also is central to a separate complaint FTC filed against California Naturel Inc., a Sausalito, Calif., firm marketing a purported all-natural sunscreen containing dimethicone, according to the agency. The case is pending before an administrative law judge.
Preservative phenoxyethanol is identified as a synthetic chemical in two of the proposed consent orders, which are subject to public comment through May 12.
The Honest Co.'s use of phenoxyethanol in natural-positioned products is cited in class action litigation pending in California and New York federal courts .
Other synthetic ingredients at issue in the FTC settlements include ethyhexylglycerin, used in cosmetics as a skin-conditioning agent among other functions and featured in ShiKai All Natural Hand and Body Lotion, as well as polyethylene in Rocky Mountain Sunscreen's Natural Face Stick.
Meanwhile, EDEN's Coconut Shea All Natural Styling Elixer and Jojoba Monoi All Natural Shampoo are formulated with synthetic hair-conditioning agents polyquaternium-37, polyquaternium-7 and caprylyl glycol, FTC says.
The agency focused on online ads for the products in question and issued a warning to other personal care firms currently using or interested in making all-natural claims.
"If you advertise your product as 'all-natural' or '100% natural' and it contains artificial ingredients or chemicals, now is the natural time for a compliance check," FTC says.
According to its release, the agency soon will publish descriptions of the consent agreement packages in the Federal Register.
Like FDA, FTC largely has refrained from regulating natural claims despite significant public controversy over the term and its application to consumer products, leaving federal courts to rule on disputes between consumers and brands on a case-by-case basis (Also see "2015 in Review: 'Natural' Claims, Prop 65 Proposals Pose Legal Risks" - HBW Insight, 2 Jan, 2016.).
In its "Green Guides" updated in 2012, FTC disappointed some stakeholders by declining to define "natural," citing a lack of "sufficient evidence" on which to base general guidance (Also see "FTC Final Revised “Green Guides” Tackle Certification Disclosures" - Pink Sheet, 15 Oct, 2012.).
General natural claims seem to be safer for use under FTC's watch. In October, the agency declined to pursue action against Aspire Beverage Co. after the Edina, Minn., company rejected the National Advertising Division's recommendation that it stop characterizing its sports drinks as natural in the absence of evidence substantiating all of its ingredients as such (Also see "First FTC ‘Natural’ Test Looms From Gatorade Challenge To Aspire Sports Drink Claims" - Pink Sheet, 27 Jul, 2015.).
However, in its letter to NAD regarding the referral, FTC said its decision was based partly on Aspire dropping the natural claims.
FDA in November began amassing public input on whether and how "natural" should be defined and regulated in the food and dietary supplement sectors. Comments were due in February (Also see "FDA Compelled To Test ‘Natural’ Climate But Hedges On Rulemaking Forecast" - Pink Sheet, 16 Nov, 2015.).