Adulterated Ingredients In Organic Cosmetics Discussed At Asia-Europe Industry Conferences
November 10, 2012 Kyriaki (Sandy) Venetis With the rise in worldwide appeal of natural and organic cosmetics over the last several years, issues have also risen about misleading marketing, adulterations of products , and issues unrelated to safety - like exploring new natural ingredients, such as those from marine origins, and issues related to pricing and distribution.
Image courtesy of blogbeyondbeauty.com.
These issues and more like them are going to be discussed in two Organic Monitor Sustainable Cosmetics Summits scheduled this month – the Asia-Pacific edition in Hong Kong on Nov. 12-13, 2012 and the European edition in Paris on Nov. 21-23.
Organic Monitor is a London-based specialist research, consulting, and training company, which focuses on the global organic and related product industries.
Since 2001, Organic Monitor has been tracking ethical and ustainable industries that include organic products, fair trade products, natural cosmetics, ethical textiles, and sustainable packaging.
The Asia-Pacific summit this month will cover areas including green ingredients, alternatives to animal testing, the potential of halal cosmetics, eco-design and sustainable packaging, measuring environmental impacts, and marketing organic skincare products.
The Asia-Pacific summit will have two interactive workshops – the first will focus on green ingredients and the second will focus on cosmetic packaging for sustainability.
The first workshop will cover major technical issues associated with reformulating products to meet natural and organic certifications standards, involving replacing synthetic emulsifiers, surfactants, and preservatives with green alternatives.
This workshop will also discuss issues of the relative performance, stability, safety, and costs associated with natural and organic ingredients compared to conventional ingredients.
Organic Monitor also discussed many of these issues in a paper in June 2012, titled Asia: Hidden Challenges of Green Cosmetic Formulations, where consumer demand, preservation, challenges of hot climates, performance, and costs were the main focus.
Judi Beerling, technical research manager at Organic Monitor found that “green formulation is becoming increasingly popular in Asia” because of growing consumer concerns largely associated with potentially harmful preservatives such as parabens.