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Organic products, from oranges to shampoo, normally cost more than their conventional counterparts. Despite this price difference, many people are willing to pay more for products they believe are better for both them and the earth.

You can generally trust organic label claims on food products when you see the Department of Agriculture’s “USDA Organic” symbol.

But consumer groups warn that when it comes to organic cosmetics and personal care products, you may not get what you expect.

“It’s the Wild West out there,” said Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Organization. “We want consumers to be able to trust the organic claim on a cosmetic product and not have a bunch of snake oil salesmen out there claiming to be organic when they are not.”

At Consumers Union, Urvashi Rangan, director of technical policy, describes the marketplace as a “free for all” where cosmetics that “contain loads of synthetic ingredients” are called organic.

Right now, as long as the manufacturer does not use the “USDA Organic” logo, these claims do not have to be verified or certified.

“We’ve seen products that claim to be organic that don’t have one single organic ingredient in them,” Rangan says. “We’ve seen companies call themselves organic in their brand name and yet they are not certified as organic.”

Consumer groups believe USDA has jurisdiction in this area. They have repeatedly asked the department to require personal care products making the “organic” claim to meet the same standards as organic food. But so far, USDA has refused.

Billy Cox, the director of public affairs at the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service says the agency is currently “evaluating” organic labeling on personal care products. But for now, USDA has decided:

It has no authority over the production and labeling of cosmetics, body care products and personal care products that are not made up of agricultural ingredients, or do not make any claims about meeting USDA organic standards.
Cosmetics, body care products and personal care products may be certified to other, private standards and marketed to those private standards in the U.S.
Frustrated by USDA’s refusal to more vigorously regulate these products, Consumers Union and the Organic Consumers Organization are trying a different tactic. Last month, they petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to investigate what they call “the widespread and misleading” use of organic claims on personal care products.

“We feel this is an unfair and deceptive business practice in the marketplace and as such the Federal Trade Commission has jurisdiction,” Rangan tells me.

The petition says organic personal care products that do not meet USDA standards can contain petroleum-derived ingredients, conventional agricultural ingredients that have been treated with pesticides, preservatives and unnatural colorings or fragrances.

The Federal Trade Commission has responded to the petition by saying it will “consider carefully” the information provided.

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