Consumers Grow More Interested in Chemical Claims & So Does the FTC
by Cheryl Baldwin, PH.D.
05 August 2013
Consumers want to know if the products they use contain harmful chemicals. Does this mean companies should label products “free-of” certain chemicals to help consumers? Maybe, but with the US Federal Trade Commission cracking down on misleading chemical claims, this should be done carefully.
The EcoPulse 2013 study by the Shelton Group found that consumers have “increasing concern about chemical content in a variety of non-food products.” To satisfy these concerns about harmful chemicals, consumers are turning to product labels as their primary source of information, above advertisements, news, word of mouth and other sources.
What to put on the label? Research shows that shoppers look for ingredient details and claims, over certifications. They want to see an ingredient list ˗˗ preferably a short list with more natural ingredients, and easy-to-understand ingredient names. While consumers want to avoid harmful chemicals in the products they buy, they are confused over which ingredients they should care most about. So, consumers rely on ingredient claims they can understand such as non-toxic, biodegradable, natural ingredient content, no chemical residues, and low fumes or volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
How to make these claims? The US Federal Trade Commission has provided guidance in their Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (aka the “Green Guides”). The Green Guides were updated in 2012 and since then, the FTC has taken legal action on misleading claims about chemicals. The focus of the FTC enforcement thus far has been on “VOC-free” claims. A settlement at the end of July involved three mattress companies that claimed their products were free of harmful VOCs, without the needed “competent and reliable scientific evidence.” A set of paint companies reached a similar settlement in 2012 regarding “VOC-free” claims.
FTC’s issue with these companies was lack of adequate substantiation to support the “free” claim, which implies that the product doesn’t contain the material and doesn’t have trace amounts of the material. Two of the mattress companies were also found to be making unsupported claims about their products being chemical and odor-free and one company was misrepresenting a certification seal. I wrote about the FTC's move to strengthen the meaning of certifications last year when the updated Green Guides were released and it is good to see FTC backing up the Green Guides with enforcement action.
As consumers have become more interested in chemical claims, FTC has provided more clarity about its expectations regarding claims and has backed its guidance up with a willingness to take action. The bottom line for companies is: Follow the Green Guides and be sure to have substantiation to support any claims.
Written by Cheryl Baldwin, PH.D.
Cheryl Baldwin, Ph.D., is a Vice President of Sustainability Consulting for Pure Strategies where she partners with corporate clients to develop and execute sustainability strategies to improve performance across retail, food and agriculture, home and personal care, and cosmetics industries. She also leads the firms’ global market research to generate new insights to accelerate business transformation.
Cheryl’s recent projects include helping develop sustainability goals for TAZO, create a sustainable packaging strategy and implementation tools for Walmart, and facilitate the development and implementation of a sustainable chemistry program for Ahold Delhaize USA.
Cheryl authored Pure Strategies’ market research reports: Planet-Forward Strategies, Connecting to the Farm, Reaching the New Corporate Frontier, Advancing on the Path to Product Sustainability, and other reports. She wrote the book, The 10 Principles of Food Industry Sustainability and is the lead author/editor for two additional books on sustainability, Greening Food and Beverage Services and Sustainability in the Food Industry and holds U.S. and international patents.
Prior to Pure Strategies, Cheryl led the life cycle research and sustainability standard program for the non-profit ecolabel organization Green Seal. Cheryl also worked in Research and Development for Kraft Foods, Inc. where she was involved in all phases of R&D from novel ingredient development to global product commercialization. Cheryl holds a Ph.D. and M.S. from Cornell University and a B.S. from the University of Illinois, all in Food Science.
Cheryl has been named one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of DC for the second consecutive year, based on a methodical review of women executives and leaders across the area. She was identified for her career track record, including her leadership position at Pure Strategies. The recognition came from Women We Admire (WWA), a membership organization of over 1,200 of the most accomplished women leaders in business, law, consulting, education, non-profit and other sectors. based on a methodical review of women executives and leaders across the area. She was identified for her career track record, including her leadership position at Pure Strategies. The recognition came from Women We Admire (WWA), a membership organization of over 1,200 of the most accomplished women leaders in business, law, consulting, education, non-profit and other sectors.
