Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps Sues Major Brands Over ‘Organic’

May 5, 2008

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The family owned Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps has filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court against a number of companies that print “Organic” or “Organics” on their labels but contain conventional agricultural or petrochemical materials.

Dr. Bronner’s and the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) had warned offending brands that they faced litigation unless they either dropped their organic claims or reformulated away from main ingredients made from conventional agricultural or petrochemical material without any certified organic material.

Some of the brand and products named in the suit include:

• Jason “Pure, Natural & Organic” liquid soaps, body washes and shampoos
• Avalon “Organics” soaps, bodywashes and shampoos,
• Cleaners from Nature’s Gate “Organics”
• Kiss My Face “Obsessively Organic” cleansers
• Juice “Organics”
• Giovanni “Organic Cosmetics”
• Head “Organics”
• Desert Essence “Organics”

Some of the petrochemicals and other ingredients used in these products, Bronner’s explains, produce carcinogenic results, the lawsuit says.

Also named in the suit: Estee Lauder, Stella McCartney’s CARE, Ecocert and OASIS.

Some of the brands involved are part of a group that has launched a new organic standard for the beauty industry.

A Burst Media survey recently reported that businesses that can support their claims in their green messaging and sustainability topics in a way that incorporates the consumers in the conversation are at an advantage in the marketplace. Seems they may also be at an advantage in the courtroom.

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