Did you know that there isn’t a government regulation for organic claims on personal care products? That’s right. While the USDA Organic label on food ensures that what you put in your body is truly organic, an “organic” claim about stuff you put on your body doesn’t mean as much. Producers of lotion, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. can label their products as organic but only have as few as one or two actual organic ingredients. At Whole Foods Market, we think organic should mean organic in every aisle of our store not just the food aisles. So, we are setting our own high standards opens in a new tab for organic body care products. To earn the organic label in the U.S. for food, it must be third-party certified to the USDA National Organic Program standards, which prohibit the use of genetically engineered seeds or crops, sewage sludge and toxic persistent pesticides. Since we — and many of you — believe that what you put on your body is as important as what you put in your body, we’re making organics in body care as reliable and straightforward as the existing standards for food. Here are the specifics:
Are Your Body Care Products Truly Organic?
What you put on your body is as important as what you put in your body! Learn what we’re doing to make sure you can tell if that lotion or toothpaste is truly organic.
Our Organic Body Care Standards At Whole Foods Market, all personal care products making an “organic” product claim are required to contain at least 95% organic ingredients and be certified to the USDA National Organic Standards; products labeled “made with organic X” must be certified to the USDA National Organic Standards and include at least 70% organic ingredients; and “contains organic X” claims can only be made on products that are at least 70% organic and certified to NSF/ANSI 305, a consensus-based industry standard for organic personal care products. Hopefully our efforts, and those of our producer partners, will encourage the quality of personal care — and the industry as a whole — to improve. For now, you can shop with confidence at our store, knowing that organic claims in our body care aisles really mean organic. Want to know more? Learn about all of our Whole Body Quality Standards opens in a new tab. Your shopping decisions will send a message! Let us know what you think about Organic Body Care opens in a new tab.
