Why we're opposing the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010!

If you follow us on Facebook or follow Jen on Twitter (@JenniferSondag), you've probably noticed that we've been talking a lot about newly proposed legislation that we're not too fond of. On July 20, H.R. 5786 was introduced to Congress (also called the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010). It's being backed by numerous organizations, coalitions, companies, and Fran Drescher (yes, as in "The Nanny").

We can all agree that safe beauty and cosmetic products are a must. We would never sell or promote any product that we didn't believe was 100% safe for our customers. Laura and I use the products we make and sell every day, and we wouldn't use anything (our product or someone else's) that wasn't safe. We are FOR safe cosmetics but we OPPOSE this bill as it is written for the following reasons:

1. Too much red tape will make it too expensive for us to stay in business. The reporting and testing requirements would be more strict and extensive than current food requirements. We would also have to tell "big brother" when we hire someone, when we change suppliers/vendors, what all of our ingredient formulations are, and who are distributors are. There is no guarantee than any of all of this information would be kept confidential.

2. New labeling requirements would force us to invest in a new labeling system, which would raise prices. More importantly, is it not pragmatic to list all trace elements on a label. This is how we would have to list olive oil under the new regulations:

Olive Oil (Tri-Glycerides of Palmitic, Di-Glycerides of Palmitic, Palmitoleic, Stearic, Oleic, Linoleic, Arachidic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Squalene, Beta Carotene, Campesterol, Methylenecholesterol, Stigmasterol, Sitosterol, Fucosterol, 28-Isofucosterol, Stigmadienol, Brassicasterol, 7-Cholestenol,Ergostadienol, Avenasterol, Triterpene Alcohols, Tirucallol, Taraxerol, Dammaradienol Beta-Amyrin Germanicol, Butyrospermol, Parkeol, Cycloartenol, Tirucalladienol, 24-Methlene 24-Dihydroparkeol, 24-Methlenecycloartanol, Cyclobranol, 4-Methyl Sterols, Esters of Tyrosol, Esters of Hydroxytyrosol, Vitamin E (Tocopherols), Carotenoids, Oleuropein)

(thanks to Anne Marie at www.soapqueen.com for this list!)

3. The cosmetics industry is already safe and gives consumers a wide variety of choices. It is already illegal to not list all ingredients on cosmetics packaging. AnnaKate Soaps has been educated on how to properly label our products, and we do our absolute best to follow all the requirements.

4. This bill and the push behind it is based on bad science and propaganda full of scare tactics. There is a video floating around the Internet called "The Story of Cosmetics" in which the narrator (Annie Leonard) repeatedly talks about toxic babies, bodies full of lead, and the idea that none of us have any control (except to support this bill). If you've seen the video (or even if you haven't), I'd strongly suggest watching this rebuttal video. It's a little long (about 16 minutes) but it goes through the original video and discusses all the claims made by Ms. Leonard. Some claims are rebutted while others are just further explained or explained from a different point of view.



Our biggest concern with this bill (as written) is that it would put us and thousands of other small cosmetic businesses out of business. There is still time to rewrite it in a manner that would protect small businesses AND ensure safe cosmetics. However, the way it was introduced to Congress would hurt, not help. Read the bill for yourself here.

You can help us by signing the petition against H.R. 5786 here and by writing your representatives to urge them not to support and/or co-sponsor this bill. Laura and I each wrote to our representatives (Collin Peterson in Minnesota for me and Earl Pomeroy for Laura) voicing our concerns. Thanks for all your support!