AUSTIN, Texas—Super natural retailer, Whole Foods Market developed a premium body care standard and labeling seal for personal care products. “Customers have been bombarded with brands and products claiming to be ‘natural,’ which can be confusing,” said Jeremiah McElwee, senior globe Whole Body coordinator. “Our goal is to provide an alternative approach for our customers, so they know that when they see the Premium Body Care seal they are getting safer, higher quality personal care products.”
The new seal already appears on nearly 1,200 products found in the store’s Whole Body department. Each product has been evaluated against set criteria and found to not contain ingredients such as parabens, polypropylene, polyethylene glycols, sodium lauryl and laureth sulfates. The supermarket worked with chemists and body care experts for more than two years, reviewing personal care ingredients and labeling information. Some points of the new premium body care standard include:
Mild preservatives that are shown to function properly, such as potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate, are allowed, while parabens and formaldehyde-releasing agents are not permitted;
Certain surfactants, including decyl polyglucose and sodium stearoyl lactylate, can be used for cleaning, emulsifying, conditioning and creating form;
Only natural essential oils and its components can be used as fragrances; and
Zinc oxide or titanium dioxides are to be used in physical sunscreens.
“The Premium Body Care standard is a starting point and an opportunity to raise the bar even higher for the natural products industry,” McElwee said. “With new information and higher quality ingredients, we make it easy for our shoppers to identify and select the best products out there.”
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