Whole Foods Market’s Position on “Organic” Personal Care Products
November 20, 2009 The subject of “organic” label claims on personal care and cosmetic products has been a controversial one, and certain manufacturers and groups have accused some products of “cheating” by using the “organic” claim deceptively. This document clarifies the issues, the USDA’s role in regulating organic personal care products, and articulates Whole Foods Market’s position on the issue. We strongly support the development of Federal regulations for organic personal care products. The development of Federal organic standards for food has directly enabled increased consumer trust, substantial growth of the organic market, and integrity throughout the supply chain, and we believe that regulation of organic personal care products will result in the same benefits for consumers and the industry. What’s going on with organic personal care products? At its November meeting, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) passed a recommendation on “Solving the Problem of Mislabeled Personal Care Products,” which recommended that the USDA’s National Organic Standards explicitly recognize personal care products and allow them to be regulated just like food and agricultural products under the same standard. Whole Foods Market supports this recommendation, and delivered written and oral testimony to the board expressing our position on the issue (see comments below). Does this mean that personal care products now must be certified? What happens next? The NOSB does not directly set the regulation, but makes recommendations to the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP). This recommendation will now be passed to the NOP, which will review and analyze its feasibility and report back to the NOSB and the industry. Because it has the near‐unanimous support of the NOSB, we hope that the NOP will act quickly on this issue, and we will continue to monitor its progress and encourage it to do so. What is the regulatory status of “Organic” personal care claims now? Until there is a clear federal regulation, “organic” claims on personal care products are not explicitly regulated by the NOP. Personal care products may voluntarily become certified to the National Organic Standards, but the USDA does not have the authority to police “organic” claims on non‐certified personal care products. In our own stores, we intend to continue to closely examine all organic label claims to ensure that they are not misleading, and we will strongly encourage our suppliers who are making organic claims to pursue NOP certification. What’s WFM’s position on the various “organic” claims on personal care products? The “organic” claim on personal care products should have a very closely similar meaning to the “organic” claim used on food, which is regulated by the National Organic Program. We acknowledge that there is currently regulatory confusion regarding the applicability and direction of the NOP standards as applied to personal care products. We encourage our suppliers to take the following steps for each type of organic claim: Products making an “Organic” product claim (e.g. Organic Shampoo,” “Organic Body Wash.”) should be certified to the USDA NOP standard. A number of companies are currently making personal care products that meet the USDA standards for food, and we believe that these are some of the cleanest and most accurately

labeled products on the market. The NOP standard provides a clear definition for “organic” product claims on foods, and our shoppers expect “organic” body care products to meet a similar definition. Products making “Made with Organic ______” claims should be certified to the USDA NOP standard, which is the best possible certification for “Made with” label claims. Products making “Contains Organic _______” claims should be certified to the NSF Organic Personal Care standard, a consensus‐based industry standard which allows a number of additional substances specific to personal care products. Any “Organic” claim on the front of the label should be substantiated by certification to one of the above standards, including the use of the word “organic” in the brand name. Products not certified to one of these standards may only use the word “organic” in the ingredients listing. We are currently working with our suppliers to transition their label claims to the above standards. Because these changes will be pervasive and complicated, we have not yet determined a timeline, but expect to so in the near future. What about the UK and Canada? We are currently researching the regulatory landscape in Canada and the UK/EU in order to create a standard which is consistent in all countries. Regardless of the country, we expect our body care producers to ensure that “organic” claims are truthful and consistent with prevailing standards for organic food. We will be issuing additional guidance to Canada and UK regions in the near future. WFM Comments to the National Organic Standards Board, November 2009 Oral comments given at the NOSB Meeting: As a number of commenters noted yesterday, the world of organic personal care products is a largely unregulated, haphazard, confusing mess. All sorts of products are making all sorts of “organic” label claims without consistency or substantiation, and the current “wild west” scenario is continually damaging to companies that are making legitimate organic claims and to consumer confidence in the organic label. We believe that the some Federal agency needs to step up and regulate these claims. Whether it’s USDA, FDA or someone else, we have to work together – the industry, the NOSB, the NOP, and all stakeholders – and figure out what we need to do to make regulation happen. We support the Committee’s recommendation to explicitly recognize personal care products within the National Organic Standards, and hope that it can be implemented under the NOP’s current jurisdiction and with the NOP’s support. Organic consumers expect a consistent definition of “organic” for all agriculturally‐based products, not just for food. The consistent regulation of the “organic” label across all product categories will increase consumer confidence, improve integrity, curtail deceptive labeling claims, and substantially increase the use of USDA Organic agricultural ingredients in personal care products. Written comments filed in advance: We strongly support the Committee’s recommendation that personal care products be explicitly recognized by the USDA. The mislabeling of personal care products is currently a major source of

confusion for consumers, and we believe the NOP, NOSB, the organic industry and other Federal agencies must act quickly and decisively to ensure consumers’ ongoing trust in the organic label for all agriculturally‐derived products, including personal care. Under the NOP’s current thinking, personal care products which meet the organic standard may become certified and use the USDA seal, but the USDA has no jurisdiction to regulate “organic” claims being made without the seal on personal care products. We have seen a number of excellent personal care products obtain USDA certification, and these products’ use of the seal provides a real point of differentiation that resonates with customers seeking organic products. However, we have also seen a number of products making “organic” claims that are certified to other private or foreign government organic standards, contain few or no organic agricultural ingredients, or contain additives and other ingredients that are radically inconsistent with the basic premises of organic agriculture. The organic personal care marketplace is currently very much a “Wild West” in which anyone can make an organic claim without substantiation or certification. In our own stores, we are able to carefully evaluate products making inappropriate claims and exclude them accordingly, but we are concerned that the ongoing misuse of the organic label claim in the general personal care marketplace will weaken the value of the organic claim for manufacturers and retailers who are using it correctly. Organic personal care product manufacturers should be treated with the same standing as food manufacturers, with the same privileges to petition to add and remove National List substances, and to seek the guidance and support of the NOP. This equality would facilitate an unprecedented surge in the development of truly organic personal care products and boost consumer confidence in the organic label. As acknowledged by others, jurisdictional technicalities may prevent the USDA from effectively enforcing the regulation with regard to label claims on personal care products. Specifically, some have expressed concern that the FDA has sole regulatory power over label claims on personal care products. Whatever the legal outlines of each agency’s area of responsibility, we ask the NOP, NOSB and organic community work constructively with the FDA and other agencies to ensure integrity in organic personal care. Alcoholic beverages are also not under USDA’s jurisdiction, but thanks to effective industry and interagency collaboration, TTB acknowledges the NOP as the regulatory authority for organic label claims on alcohol. We urge FDA and USDA to take a similar approach with personal care products, and we are encouraged that this year’s House Agricultural Appropriations bill directs the FDA to study this issue and report back to the House and Senate. We hope that progress on this issue continues with a spirit of collaboration and shared goals between the USDA, FDA, and the organic community. The fact that the regulatory landscape is complicated should not serve as a barrier to progress. We and our shoppers expect a consistent definition of “organic” throughout the store, and the jurisdictional borders between Federal agencies should not ultimately derail this goal. The consistent regulation of the “organic” label across all product categories will increase consumer confidence, improve integrity, curtail deceptive labeling claims, and substantially increase the use of USDA Organic agricultural ingredients in personal care products.