Cosmetic products that present themselves as “natural” or “organic” and claim to respect the environment are undeniably popular with the public. But do they live up to consumers’ expectations? The French DGCCRF wanted to verify this in its investigation launched in 2019… and demonstrated the existence of insufficiently justified claims, a lack of traceability of certain products and the presence of prohibited substances or allergens not mentioned in the list of ingredients…
As the French cosmetics market surveillance authority, the DGCCRF verifies the conformity of products marketed on the national territory and ensures the fairness of the information provided to consumers. Its investigation, launched in 2019 in the “natural” and “organic” cosmetics sector, consisted in verifying the fairness of the claims made on these products as well as their compliance with regulations.
Natural and organic cosmetic products are subject to the same regulations as all cosmetics, i.e. Regulation n°1223/2009 of 30 November 2009 relating to cosmetic products, and as far as claims are concerned, Regulation n°655/2007 of 10 July 2013 establishing common criteria that claims relating to cosmetic products must meet in order to be used. Any claim, including the “natural” or “organic” character of the product or of certain ingredients must be able to be justified.
Control operations were carried out in 614 establishments throughout the country. The operators concerned were mainly those responsible for first placing on the market, wholesalers and distributors (in-store or on the Internet) and subcontractors.
The checks concerned all categories of cosmetic products, including body creams and emulsions and bath and shower products.
Results of the survey
• Establishments visited: 614
• Products analyzed: 119
• …
