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USDA Organic Explained
What This Means for Soap and Skincare
Sales of organic products are on the rise, and growth rates average over 20% per year. Because of this, many companies are trying to catch this wave by offering "organic" products for sale. But what does "organic" mean? And, important to readers of this Newsletter, how do organic standards apply to soap and skin care products?

The USDA's National Organic Program (NOP) provides the benchmark, global standard for defining what it means for a product to be organic. Within the NOP, there are three levels of certification. A product's classification is based on the amount of its organic ingredients taken as a percentage of its total ingredients (without counting water or salt). Here's what the levels mean, and then we'll discuss how the standards apply to soap and skin care.
1) "100% Organic"
This means just what the name implies. Dried organic herbs are a perfect example.
2) "Organic"
The category "Organic" applies to products containing a minimum of 95% organic contents by weight. Usually, these are products that contain a small amount of a natural preservative or processing aid that prevents them from reaching the 100% mark. For example, many fixed oils (such as palm and coconut oil) contain a trace amount of citric acid to increase their shelf life. Importantly, these trace ingredients must conform to the USDA's list of approved ingredients that can be used in organic products.
3) "Made with Organic..."
"Made with Organic..." applies to products that contain a minimum of 70% organic content but do not reach the 95% mark. The USDA has determined that 70% is the minimum amount of organic content a product can have and still use the terminology of "organic" in its labels and marketing. Here too, a product's ingredients that are not-certified organic must conform with the USDA's list of allowable products. The "Made with Organic" category is the most misrepresented and improperly marketed category for soap and skin care. As a consumer, this is the most important category to understand.

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Because of their chemistry, bar soaps cannot every reach the 95% level of organic content... Organic soap and skin care products are among the most misrepresented organic products. This has to do with formulation issues, labeling requirements, and a misrepresentation of the standards. All bar soaps, and most skin care products, fall short of the 95% organic mark. Bar soaps require sodium hydroxide (NaOH, or lye) for their production. Sodium hydroxide is on the allowed list of non-organic ingredients that can be used in making organic products, and it accounts for approximately 13-15% of the ingredients, by weight (not including water or salt). Even if every other ingredient in a bar soap were certified organic, the soap would never have an organic content of more than 85-87%, as this is the maximum level of organic content in a bar soap.

Sometimes, manufacturers "cheat" a bit to reach higher organic content levels. Take lotion for example. A typical lotion has water among its ingredients, which does not count in any way toward organic content levels. However, by steeping organic herbs in this water first, some manufacturers claim their water is "organic," thus counting it as an organic ingredient and raising their products' organic content levels. As always, it is crucial to understand the standards and read the labels.

It is also important to verify whether or not a company's products are certified according to organic standards. Many companies claim to use organic ingredients or call their products organic; however, few have actual certification, which is the only proof for the claim. Part of the certification process includes proving an audit trail and showing the ability to trace any organic product sold back to its original organic ingredients.

At Botanie, we maintain a minimum organic content level of 85% in all our bar soaps. We have also taken the additional step of becoming certified under the USDA National Organic Program. Our certifying agency is the Montana Department of Agriculture.

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