"Natural Claims"

If you look at cosmetics on the shelf in any store, you’ll find hundreds of products that claim (or imply) that the product is “natural.” Of course, we all know that cucumber shampoo isn’t harvested from a garden and lotion isn’t squeezed out of a fruit like orange juice. So what do they mean by “natural”? Can you claim your products are natural?

The laws and regulations

When it comes to cosmetics, there is nothing in the laws or regulations that defines “natural” or what a “natural product” would be. The FDA reiterates this stance in their Small Businesses & Homemade Cosmetics: Fact Sheet, Q7. Can I label my cosmetics “natural” or “organic”?

The overarching law, however, is the fact that any advertising or product statements must be truthful, cannot be deceptive or unfair, and must be evidence-based.¹

Clues to what qualifies as “natural”

Even though there is no specific definition, that doesn’t mean you can randomly call anything “natural” and get away with it. There are other laws, regulations, rules, guidelines and court decisions that have a bearing on what can be considered a “natural” product.

FDA – Natural Food

In November 2015 the FDA started proceedings to determine if they should establish a definition for “natural” as related to food.² They received over 7,000 comments in the following months, but as yet no further action has been taken.³

The FDA’s longstanding policy is that the term “natural” means that “nothing artificial or synthetic (including all color additives regardless of source) has been included in, or has been added to, a food that would not normally be expected to be in that food.”⁴

FDA – Flavors

The FDA has established regulations which define what natural and artificial flavors are.

Natural Flavor

A natural flavor is a flavoring constituent derived from “...a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat,seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof...”⁵

Artificial Flavor

An artificial flavor means “means any substance, the function of which is to impart flavor, which is not derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof.”⁶

FTC – Action against “all natural” claims

In 2016, the Federal Trade Commission took action against 5 companies on the basis that they had made false claims that their products were “all natural” or “100% natural” when the products actually contained synthetic ingredients. The synthetic ingredients cited were dimethicone, caprylyl glycol, ethylhexyl glycerine, phenoxyethanol, polyethylene, butyloctyl salicylate, neopentyl glycol diethylhexanoate, and poly quaternium -7, -11, and -37. Final orders barred the companies from making false all-natural claims.⁷

International Standards Organization – Natural Cosmetic Standard

The International Standards Organization has issued ISO 16128 - Guidelines on technical definitions and criteria for natural and organic cosmetic ingredients and products. It is issued in two parts: Part 1 (16128-1) Definitions for ingredients; and Part 2 (16128-2) Criteria for ingredients and products which contains the mathematical formulas for calculating the percentage of natural components.

Natural ingredients are defined in Part 1 as those obtained only from plants (including algae and fungi), animals, micro-organisms, or minerals occurring naturally in the earth, and which are extracted by physical processes (e.g. grinding, drying distillation), fermentation, or solvent extraction by water or another natural substance. Water is considered a natural ingredient.

Part 1 also defines derived natural ingredients, which are cosmetic ingredients of more than 50% natural origin, but which have been been changed through a chemical and/or biological process. There are 17 approved processes, which include addition (including hydration), carbonation, hydrogenation, hydrolysis (includes saponification), oxidation, and reduction.

Natural Products Association – Natural Personal Care Standard

The Natural Products Association has a Natural Certification Standard for Personal Care Products. Their standard requires 95% truly natural or natural derived ingredients (excluding water), no human health risk, and minimal processing. They provide a list of acceptable ingredients. They charge a fee for certification.

National Advertising Division

The National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau is a non-profit dispute resolution program though which a company can complain about the advertising of another company. NAD makes a decision and the parties go with it or, if not, NAD may refer the issue to the FTC.

In 2023, Dove filled a complaint against Dr. Squatch Jukebox Soaps. NAD determined that Dr. Squatch had a reasonable basis for its “natural” claims for Jukebox Soap because “all but a fractional amount of the ingredients in Jukebox soaps are natural or naturally derived and that the saponification process involves minimal processing.” ⁸ Note that based on the pictures on their website, Jukebox soaps DO contain color additives, although that’s not mentioned in the decision.⁹

Lawsuits

There have been numerous lawsuits filed against companies for making some sort of false “natural” claim for a food, beverage, cosmetic, or animal feed. They are mostly filed under state laws covering false or deceptive advertising. The reasoning ranges from failing to disclose synthetic or artificial ingredients, significant processing of the original “natural” components, and inadvertent contamination with pesticides. They have been settled or decided in all sorts of different ways.

Consensus and Contradictions

Within all these different decisions and determinations, it’s easy to see that they all agree that “natural” means that the ingredients come from plants, animals, or minerals. They can be transformed (by saponification, for example) – but only to a limited degree.

Any color additive at all (regardless of the source) makes a flavoring artificial, but color additives aren’t specifically addressed by any of the other decisions or definitions.

A “natural” claim seems to allow for SOME non-natural components (“fractional amount” according to NAD, or 5% according to the Natural Products Association). However, an “all-natural” or “100% natural” claim doesn’t allow for ANY synthetic or artificial ingredients.

Best practices

• Don’t make a broad, unqualified “all-natural” or “100% natural” claim unless you are certain your product contains NO synthetic or artificial ingredients.
• Watch carefully for statements that imply that your product is 100% natural, even if you don’t state it explicitly.
• Define what YOU mean by “natural” – the amount of processing, the ingredient sources, etc. Consider getting a copy of ISO 16128, and using that as your standard for “natural.”
• Do your own research; don’t rely on the claims you see others making.
• Document the source(s) of your ingredients.