Campaign targets holiday B&BW items

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics encourages consumers to "tell Bath & Body Works that you don't want to give or receive toxic body products this holiday season." A major ingredient in Bath & Body Works gift baskets and holiday offerings, "fragrance" is "a mystery ingredient often made from dozens - even hundreds - of individual chemicals that don't appear on ingredient labels and that may be more naughty than nice for your health," including neurotoxins, allergens and phthalates, the Campaign asserts. But fragrance is "not the only ingredient we're checking twice," the watchdog says, noting that B&BW's Sugar & Spice 3-in-1 Body Wash contains sodium laureth sulfate - which "is often contaminated with a hidden carcinogen called 1,4-Dioxane" - and that its Glittery Gumdrop lotion is formulated with "at least two parabens." Finally, the organization advises consumers shopping for young girls to "steer clear" of B&BW's American Girl line; labeling for the American Girl Truly Me Glistening Shower and Bath Wash warns that "excessive use or prolonged exposure may cause irritation to skin and urinary tract," and the line's Shimmer roll-on fragrance also contains skin irritants, organ sensitizers and suspected carcinogens, the Campaign says. During an October investor update, B&BW CEO Diane Neal said the Limited Brands unit was optimistic about the upcoming holiday season (1"The Rose Sheet" Oct. 29, 2007, p. 6)