LAT: Organic Beauty Products Get a Lift With USDA About-Face

[DeepModem Mom]

Organic Beauty Products Get a Lift With USDA About-Face
By Roger Vincent, Times Staff Writer


....The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reversed its decision to yank the "USDA Organic" seal from lotions and lip balms and will allow cosmetics to carry the prestigious round, green label.

Having the USDA imprimatur is essential for a product to stand out on store shelves crowded with allegedly organic merchandise, said David Bronner, president of Escondido, Calif.-based Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap.

"lt's really the only way to distinguish ourselves from the rampant, misleading claims" of others, said Bronner, whose company and the Organic Consumers Assn. sued the department in June over its decision to stop certifying cosmetics.

The USDA created the label in 2002 to identify food that is free of pesticides, antibiotics and other chemicals. Meat and milk products certified as organic must come from animals raised on organic feed and given access to the outdoors. They may not be injected with growth hormones or antibiotics.

Some makers of cosmetics and other products that use naturally raised ingredients sought the USDA's seal of approval, and the department said it would oblige them before deciding in April that it should stick solely with regulating food. On Tuesday night, a day away from a deadline to respond to the manufacturers' lawsuit, the USDA reversed its position....


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-organic25aug25,0,6005197.story?coll=la-home-business

[meganmonkey]

1. It's about time. I guess the Clairol lobby gave up

So they can't say their shampoo is an 'Organic Experience' on commercials with women moaning in ecstasy anymore. Thank goodness!