Natural beauty products widely available

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MARQUETTE - Natural cosmetics, organic skin care, holistic make-up - the choices for natural beauty products seem endless when browsing the shelves at stores such as the Marquette Food Co-op, Fountain of Health and, most recently, Target.

But how does one know whether the product is really pure, environmentally friendly or biodegradable?

"The best way to find out is calling the company directly," said Parnee Paras, manager of the wellness department at the Marquette Food Co-op. "It's a big controversy; opinions vary on what is good for you and what isn't."

Because the United States has only a few ingredients that are outlawed in beauty products (in comparison, the European Union has thousands) and because there aren't really any standard regulations for natural products, some companies may claim their products as natural when in fact only a small percentage of the ingredients are pure, Paras said.

"To be considered certified organic, only 70 percent (of the product) has to be certified organic," Paras said. "Anybody can call their product organic."

This is happening in part because there aren't as strict government regulations for cosmetics products as there are for drugs.

According to information on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Web site, "cosmetic firms are responsible for substantiating the safety of their products and ingredients before marketing. ... Cosmetic products and ingredients are not subject to FDA premarket approval authority, with the exception of color additives."

The Marquette Food Co-op recently ran into a problem with a large amount of its beauty products when a study released by the Organic Consumers Association showed that many natural and organic products contained the carcinogenic contaminant 1,4-dioxane.

Paras said according to the study, it is a cancer-causing ingredient. As a result, Paras gradually eliminated the products that contained 1,4-dioxane at the Co-op.

"Some people have responded pretty good about it," Paras said. "Some people were shocked and some people said they have been using the product for 15 years."

Paras said she generally calls companies and questions them about ingredients. When the company can't provide her with a solid answer, she reconsiders ordering the product.

Marybeth Coleman, manager of the Fountain of Health, said there will be a change in labeling beauty products in the near future.

"Within the next several months, you're going to see a lot more cosmetics out there that have to list (all) their ingredients," she said.

According to Coleman, the nonprofit Natural Products Association has been implementing a certification program "which defines natural and includes an easily-identified seal."

The association's strict standards asked for the ingredients to be 95 percent natural and "those ingredients must come from a renewable/plentiful resource found in nature and contain no petroleum compounds."

"It's going to eliminate a lot of confusion for people who want to have more natural products instead of synthetics," Coleman said.

For more information, go to www.naturalproductsassoc.org/certifiednatural or www.organicconsumers.org.