Speakers At IFRA Meeting Offer Solidarity, Advice For Embattled Industry

The International Fragrance Association’s choice of speakers for its 2012 business meeting reflects the preoccupations of an industry under increasing pressure from NGOs.

Speakers at the International Fragrance Association’s Annual Business Meeting in Teaneck, N.J., addressed bias in the media, environmentalism as religion and other problems faced by an industry under increasing pressure.

“Some of you are looking for friends and allies and third-party groups who will stand up with you, helping you push back critics and educate the world with the right story,” said Elena Solovyov, communications director for IFRA North America, to an audience of 135 industry execs on Jan. 12.

The trade group brought in two outside speakers to lend their support. The first, Dr. Gilbert Ross, executive director and medical director of the American Council on Science and Health, asserted that industry and enemies of “junk science” have an “uphill battle” before them.

Citing the Environmental Working Group as one of the worst offenders when it comes to junk science, he stated: “Environmentalism has become a religion. It’s very hard to argue rationally with these people. Some believe what they say, but some are manipulating the media and the public to gain publicity and funding.

“Then there are plaintiff attorneys waiting in the wings,” he went on. “You have demigods and politicians willing to say anything for attention. The media, it’s their lifeblood. ... This is the problem we’re up against.”

Instead of focusing their energies and resources on “real problems,” such as smoking, activist groups are targeting marginal if not outright fabricated health concerns such as endocrine disruptors in fragrance, according to Ross.

“Endocrine disruption – nobody knows what that is,” he said. “It’s a gender-bender and [allegedly] interferes with your hormones. I’m a trained physician for 20 years and I’ve never heard what that term means. It’s a political, ideological term.”

ACSH, whose stated mission is to “restore science and common sense to personal and public health decisions,” recently listed fragrance and concerns about “secret” fragrance ingredients among its top “unfounded health scares” of 2011 (Also see "ACSH’s 2011 “Unfounded Scares” List Includes Sunscreen, Fragrance" - HBW Insight, 9 Jan, 2012.).

The Competitive Enterprise Institute also has taken a stand against what it perceives as fear-mongering driven by “anti-chemical” advocacy groups, defending the safety of fragrance products (Also see "“Extremist” Groups Needlessly Alarm Consumers About Cosmetics – Report" - HBW Insight, 24 Oct, 2011.).

The Safe Cosmetics Act includes a provision that would mandate full ingredient disclosure from cosmetics manufacturers, including all components of fragrance, which has caused a stir in an industry that prizes trade secrets and considers fragrance recipes sacred.

Ross doesn’t think the legislation has legs. “It’s sort of a good thing that Republicans control the House,” he said, because “the Democrats in Senate want to ban all chemicals they can spell. Luckily they don’t spell that well.”

Ross has his share of detractors. In October 2005, ACSH founder and President Elizabeth Whelan posted a statement on the council’s website defending Ross after an article from nonprofit news organization Mother Jones called his credibility into question, highlighting the revocation of his medical license in the early 90s for Medicaid fraud and his associated conviction and three-year prison sentence.

Whelan maintained that Ross had “inadvertently” participated in the scam after answering a newspaper ad seeking the services of a physician in a Bronx clinic that turned out to be bogus. She emphasized that he has since “paid his debt to society,” reestablished his medical license and become an “indispensable member of the ACSH team.”

“You Should Be Smiling!”

Rita Cosby, special correspondent for CBS’ Inside Edition, took a lighter approach in her presentation. “What you do, I think, is so wonderful,” she said. “You guys deal with the beautiful things in life – you should be smiling!”

At the same time, she recognized the predicament the industry finds itself in. “There’s this big movement with consumers to try and get the word out and not keep anything secret. Your battle, which is a noble one, is to try and keep your products proprietary – all of that hard work that you in the third, fourth and fifth generations have worked so hard with your families to maintain.”

Last year, amid cries for full ingredient disclosure from fragrance firms, IFRA launched a pair of animated videos on YouTube that provide an overview of the scent-making process and underscore the importance of preserving intellectual property and maintaining an even playing field (Also see "IFRA Videos Designed To Educate, Feel Out Public On Ingredient Disclosure" - HBW Insight, 2 Jan, 2012.).

Cosby acknowledged that the media is at times guilty of focusing on negative news, or deferring to the maxim “If it bleeds, it leads,” as formulated by Ross.

“But I will also tell you [that] so many times we don’t get the word on the other side,” she said.

She urged industry to “speak up,” both getting out in front of potentially damaging press spearheaded by “crazy watchdog groups” and actively pitching positive stories to news outlets.

“Journalists are not always looking for the nasty,” she said. “The stories that break through on my end are stories that are interesting or provocative, but also stories that affect consumers.

She acknowledged that packaging a story fetchingly can be key. “I would [love] to see something to the effect of ‘Ladies, don’t worry about the dye in your hair’ or ‘Don’t worry about the makeup you’re using, it’s totally safe!’” Cosby said. “That’s a great story that affects everybody.”