Dr. Bronner's products first caught my attention a year ago when I was searching for an all natural and organic body wash at Target. The packaging was unique, the bottle was huge and the price was cheap. Too good to be true? I thought so. So I began reading the label and comparing it to other labels brands I knew and trusted. From what I could tell, Dr. Bronner's was clearly the most pure, organic and natural product on the shelf. The label was covered with facts, quotes and rantings of Dr. Bronner himself. I bought the soap and began reading the bottle during a long hot soak in the tub later that night. Some of what they had to say was unique and down right bizarre. This Dr. Bronner (now deceased) had some crazy ideas, but he sure was passionate about the integrity of his products. And that is what has stuck with me since that first experience- integrity. (I did actually love the self proclaimed "magic soap" and continue to go back for more.)
Not only are these people committed to offering pure and organic alternatives that are effective and competitively priced, but they want the consumers to understand exactly what goes into their products and why. Knowing this about them, it came as no surprise to read that they are actually suing several "organic" personal care companies. They claim that brands like Kiss My Face, Jason's, Avalon Organics, Nature's Gate- all those natural and organic brands that I have grown to love and trust- market their products as organic when they are not. They accuse these brands of using non-organic, pesticide laden agricultural and/or petrochemical material to make the key cleansing and moisturizing ingredients of their "all-organic" products.
"Organic consumers expect that the main cleansing and moisturizing ingredients in 'Organic'... products are in fact made from organic material, and are not simply conventional formulations with some organic tea on top. If defendants cannot live up to their organic claims, they need to drop those claims. The misleading organic noise created by culprit companies' labeling practices, confuses, misleads and deceives organic consumers who want to buy authentic organic personal care products, the main ingredients of which are in fact made with certified organic, not conventional or petrochemical, material, and are free of synthetic preservatives. " said president David Bronner.
No decisions have been made yet, and all companies are standing by their claims to the organic banner. Whatever the outcome, it says a lot for Dr. Bronner's pledge to organic integrity when they will publicly hold the ingredients of their products up against that of their competitors for close scrutiny by the courts.
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