When we first started simplyneutral, we met with a chemist at a bottling company we were considering using. We had done a ton of research, but we were newbies to the industry. We sat with our Ball jar of homemade scrub and told him we wanted to make cleaners. He could have laughed us out of his conference room. But, to his great credit, he didn’t. He listened and offered encouragement and advice.
One of the things he told us was to NOT list the ingredients on our packaging in order to protect our formula from competitors. This was four years ago. Before the push for transparency in ingredient disclosure had gained much momentum. So, we respected the chemist’s opinion. But, we didn’t take it. As it turns out, it was one of the few things we did right that first year.
A lot of companies say they don’t disclose ingredients because they don’t want competitors to know what’s in their products. But, the truth is, if a competitor really wanted to know what was in those products, they could find out. For as little as a few hundred dollars, they could have a mass spec done to determine the basic ingredients.
The other truth is, as an industry, we use many of the same ingredients in varying combinations. Nothing in a manufacturer’s product list is probably going to wow their competitors that much. (“Frank, take a look at this! They’re using lunar sea extract. Straight from the moon!”) It’s just not that likely.
So, why don’t most companies disclose? Because they don’t want you, the consumer, to know what’s inside.
Here’s how the regulations work. The EPA only requires manufacturers to list “chemicals of concern” on their labels. But, the problem is, there’s no one actively determining what ingredients fall into that category. The EPA doesn’t test ingredients for toxicity (because it simply doesn’t have the resources) and it doesn’t require manufacturers to test them either. So, it’s up to the manufacturer to decide if it’s safe. (It’s crazy, but it’s true.)
These manufacturers know if they disclose their ingredients, all those toxins that have been flying under the radar for years would finally come under the scrutiny of critics much tougher than the EPA. Those critics are you and me.
It wouldn’t take long before consumer groups and environmental organizations would be putting on the pressure to shape up or suffer the consequences of lost market share.
We believe it’s only a matter of time before all cleaning products will be required to disclose what’s inside. In the meantime, know we’ve always had your back.
The reason Maggie and I decided to disclose ingredients was simple. We felt you should know. As someone with multiple chemical sensitivities, Maggie learned firsthand how difficult it was to manage her condition when she didn’t have access to the list of ingredients that were making her sick.
That’s why we disclose our complete list of ingredients for each product on our labels and on our website. None of our ingredients ranks higher than a “3” on the Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetic Safety Database. The database ranks products and individual ingredients from 0 (lower concern) to 10 (higher concern). We encourage you to check for yourself at www.cosmeticsdatabase.com. You should also use this website to check the toxicity of other products you use.
Operating with transparency and integrity isn’t just a line we thought would sound good in our mission statement. It’s one we really believe in. Because…we’re all in this together,
Sara
