AUSTIN, Texas– All personal care products and cosmetics making an “organic” claim sold in Whole Foods Market’s U.S. stores must be third-party certified by June 1, 2011, according to a press release from the natural products store. Under the new guideline, all products making an “organic” product claim (e.g. “organic shampoo”) must be certified to the USDA National Organic Program (USDA NOP) standard, the same standard to which organic food must be certified under U.S. law. Products making a “made with organic ingredients” claim must also be certified to the NOP standard, and products making a “contains organic ingredients” claim must be certified to the NSF 305 ANSI Standard for Organic Personal Care products, a consensus-based industry standard accepted by the American National Standards Institute and managed by NSF International.
USDA has said that personal care products can be certified to the NOP standard, but such certification is not mandatory for non-food products. To honor the authenticity of the organic label, Whole Foods Market is requiring organic certification to ensure that claims on product labels are accurate.
“At Whole Foods Market, our shoppers do not expect the definition of organic to change substantially between the food and non-food aisles of our stores,” said Joe Dickson, quality standards coordinator for Whole Foods Market. “We believe that the ‘organic’ claim used on personal care products should have just as strong a meaning to the ‘organic’ claim used on food products, which is currently regulated by the USDA’s National Organic Program.”
The company’s set of requirements apply to all personal care products and cosmetics which use the word “organic” in any way on the product label, including the use of the word “organic” in the brand name, which must be certified to the USDA NOP or NSF 305 standards. Whole Foods Market is currently working with suppliers to transition their label claims to the meet these standards:
- Products making an “Organic” product claim must be certified to the USDA’s National Organic Program standard for organic (at least 95 percent) products.
- Products making a “Made with Organic ________” claim must be certified to USDA’s National Organic Program standard for Made with Organic (at least 70 percent) products.
- Products making a “Contains Organic _______” claim must be certified to the NSF/ANSI 305 Organic Personal Care Standard.
- Products with an organic ingredient in the “Ingredients:” listing must ensure the ingredient is certified to the USDA NOP standard.
Suppliers who are making an “organic” claim have until August 1, 2010 to submit their plans for compliance and until June 1, 2011 to be in full compliance.