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This is a press release from the Biological Farmers of Australia which helps sort through the confusion of what is organic and what is not! One of the really important points I would like to highlight from this press release is that minerals (as in mineral make up) can never be organic because only plant materials are considered organic. Minerals are inorganic. So you can have a mineral make up that is 100% natural, but never one that is organic (just to add to the confusion, a mineral make up may contain organic materials such as herbs in addition to the minerals).

Keep in mind that the Biological Farmers of Australia are not the only organic

certifying body in Australia or internationally however, this is an important step towards standardising what is currently a very grey area. But enough of my soapbox, below is the press release from Biological Farmers of Australia:

In a move towards promoting greater consumer confidence in organic beauty and personal care products, the Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA) has announced the launch of a new Australian Certified Organic “beauty” logo. The logo will be used on cosmetic products containing more than 70%, but less than 95% organic ingredients, giving authenticity to the claim “made with certified organic ingredients”.

To be classified as Australian Certified Organic, food and other products must contain 95% organic ingredients with the remaining 5% being restricted to natural ingredients which meet stringent requirements. In the beauty world, it often can be difficult for products to meet the 95% organic ingredients rule and until now consumers have not had the benefit of knowing if products containing less than 95% organic ingredients are endorsed by Australian Certified Organic. The new “Beauty” logo will give consumers more choice and new confidence in products which are natural while still containing between 70 and 95% organic ingredients.

As with all Australian Certified Organic products, the non-organic component of products making the claim “made with certified organic ingredients” must still be natural and meet tough requirements in order to carry the logo as well as undergo annual audits.

In a global market, despite a lack of agreements between international organic cosmetic standards, organic and “natural” cosmetics are reputedly growing by over US $1 billion a year. The BFA’s Australian Organic Standard has rapidly gained wide recognition and consumer acceptance in Australia and abroad for its more stringent definition of organic cosmetics.

Ms. Akiko Nicholls, Managing Director of ACO, says that the Australian Organic Standard for cosmetics, to which Australian Certified Organic products are certified, is one of the few practical cosmetic standards in the world which is very close to organic food standards and that it is a real benefit in Asian markets, where consumers are more conscious of quality claims.

“ACO cosmetic products are becoming popular in markets like Japan, where consumers pay more attention to the product ingredients’ source. Some overseas standards allow products to contain as little as 20% organic ingredients,” she says.

Ms Nicholls points out that even some completely natural cosmetics, such as mineral-based products, cannot be labelled “organic”, even though they contain no harmful chemicals and preservatives.

“Minerals are not cultivated in soil so cannot be classified as “organic” according to standards – but for consumers seeking naturally-derived mineral-based cosmetics there are products endorsed by the BFA which carry the “BFA Approved Product” logo. ”

The Organic “Beauty” Logo

The requirements for the Organic “Beauty” Logo include:

• Cosmetics and personal care products are the only products which are allowed to use the Bud logo along with the claim “made with certified organic ingredients”. They are required to contain 70% – 95% organic ingredients, with the remaining ingredients natural and compliant with strict requirements. The organic ingredient percentage will appear as the XX part of the logo in this example.
• The Organic “Beauty” logo will appear on the back of product packaging only and cannot be made more prominent than the ingredients panel.
• This logo is only for cosmetic and personal care products and shall not be used for food products.

Keep in mind this is a new logo and it is only over the next few years that you will start to see this and similar logos on existing and new Australian organic beauty products.

Related Articles:

• If you don’t mean it, don’t green it
• Green is the new Black: a critical look at the beauty industry