‘Free from’ claims are trendy. But they are under revision by the European Commission, as regulators are about to publish new recommendations intended to provide details on their labelling rules within the European Cosmetics Regulation framework. Dr Stéphane Pirnay, Chemist, Expert Toxicologist, ERT, and member of the Working Group on claims at the European Commission, focuses on the ‘free from’ trend in this article.
As a reminder, Regulation 665/2013 of 10 July 2013 determines the six common criteria cosmetics claims must satisfy to be used.
Six common criteria
Criterion no 1: Legal compliance
1. Claims that indicate that the product has been authorized or approved by a competent authority within the Union shall not be allowed.
2. The acceptability of a claim shall be based on the perception of the average end user of a cosmetic product, who is reasonably well-informed and reasonably observant and circumspect, taking into account the social, cultural, and linguistic factors in the market in question.
3. Claims which convey the idea that a product has a specific benefit when this benefit is mere compliance with minimum legal requirements shall not be allowed.
Criterion no 2: Truthfulness
1. If it is claimed on the product that it contains a specific ingredient, the ingredient shall be deliberately present.
2. Ingredient claims referring to the properties of a specific ingredient shall not imply that the finished product has the same properties when it does not.
3. Marketing communications shall not imply that expressions of opinions are verified claims unless the opinion reflects verifiable evidence.
Criterion no 3: Evidential support
1. Claims for …
