Congress is going to ask the FDA to crack down on artisan soap makers. These craftsmen and women usually make soap at home and sell it at farmer’s markets, online, or in local natural food outlets.
As someone who has vowed to never put anything on my skin that isn’t also edible, I place a high value on the artisan soap makers in my life. (I’ve even been known to make my own soap once or twice!)
According to the Handmade Cosmetic Alliance, a new bill proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), will put small artisanal soap and cosmetic makers out of business. The Senate Bill S.1014, also known as the Personal Care Products Safety Act, was born out of Senatar Dianne Feinstein’s (rightly placed) indignation about the harmful and nasty chemicals that go into women’s cosmetics.
Feinstein introduced the bill with these words:
From shampoo to lotion, the use of personal care products is widespread, however, there are very few protections in place to ensure their safety,” Feinstein said. “Europe has a robust system, which includes consumer protections like product registration and ingredient reviews. I am pleased to be introducing this bipartisan legislation with Senator Collins that will require FDA to review chemicals used in these products and provide clear guidance on their safety. In addition, the legislation has broad support from companies and consumer groups alike.”
(source)
However noble the intentions of the bill’s author, the sad fact remains that it (like most government regulations) doesn’t scale well.
As it’s currently written, the bill requires that all cosmetic businesses complete government registration forms and detail each ingredient.
According to the Handmade Cosmetic Alliance, the bill “imposes burdensome fees, registration requirements and reporting mandates” that are unprecedented for small artisan producers. (source)
A Convoluted Path to Safety
Feinstein names several problematic chemicals routinely found in soaps, including methylene glycol, propyl paraben, diazolidinyl urea, lead acetate, and quaternium-15.
But rather than cracking down on these and other potentially harmful ingredients by banning them from cosmetic use, the bill cracks down on those making soaps and cosmetics and requires them to pay user fees to fund a proposed plan where the FDA scrutinizes the safety of at least 5 of these chemicals per year and then regulates their use.
These user fees are a minor burden for major corporations, many of whom support the bill (including big names like Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Revlon, Unilver, and L’Oreal). (source)
Yet they’re enough to put the small-scale, hand-made producer out of business. These cottage industries with 1-5 employees typically make soap in batches of 25-100 bars using food-grade ingredients that can be found in any grocery store. You could not ask for a safer soap!
Ironic, isn’t it?
The very businesses making the world’s safest soaps are the ones that will be put out of business by this law.
Homemade & Artisan soaps are under attack by U.S. lawmakers! Read more @foodrenegade http://t.co/Jg8Bt6t8tP
— FoodRenegade (@FoodRenegade) May 11, 2015
Senator Feinstein Ignored Artisan Soap Makers
According to a letter written by the Handmade Cosmetic Alliance, Feinstein specifically chose not to include exemptions for smaller, homemade producers in the bill:
The HCA had several meetings over many months with the sponsor of S. 1014 and presented information to support small business exemptions similar to those the 2011 Food Modernization Safety Act (FSMA). Sadly, a decision was made to use prescription drugs and medical device standards for small handmade cosmetic businesses. This does not make sense.”
(source)
The HCA asked for exemptions for business with average sales of less than $2 million per year.
Instead, in the bill’s current form, any facility that grosses more than $100K a year has to register, and those making more than $500k have to pay a fee.
While $100k may sound like a lot, consider that about half these gross earnings will go to taxes and overhead, and the remaining $50k will be split between employees. The size of these exempt ventures is very, very small indeed.
What can you do?
While many bills never make it out of committee to be voted on, this one almost certainly will. It has bi-partisan sponsors and industry backing.
You can read a summary of the bill here.
You can track the bill’s progress here.
As of today (5/10/2015), S.1014 is in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will determine if it moves past the committee stage. Phone: (202) 224-4944, email: http://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Email
Support Artisan Soap Makers: Buy Their Soap
You can usually find soap from local makers at farmer’s markets or craft fairs. If, however, you don’t know where to buy any near you, consider buying online from places like Etsy.
I personally use and love these Kombucha Bars made with active kombucha cultures and high-grade ethically sourced oils. The soap lathers well and the scents are downright delicious!
They’re made by one lady, Randie Hilliard, who discovered that when she added live kombucha culture to her soap it rinsed cleaner while still producing a gorgeous lather. She then had her kombucha soap lab tested and determined that the active ingredients in kombucha (glucuronic acid, B vitamins, etc) remain intact in the final soap bar, passing along those benefits to you.
(Click Here to Buy Kombucha Bars)
(top photo by: breamariep)
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I keep hoping I will wake up and big government overreach will be just a nightmare and not our reality.
I think the most important thing we can do is 1)contact our legislators (we’ve seen how effective our collective voice can be if they get a ton of calls & emails) and 2) continue to act/live in freedom. Laws are ultimately meaningless if the people don’t obey them…
So they have crushed the cloth pad cottage industry & now handmade, artisan soap?! I am not even going to ask what they try to go after NEXT :(. If I want to buy soap chock full of crap, it should be MY choice… I can eat FOOD full of crap, why not lather up in soap w/crap?! Each time they draft these bills for our “protection” it only further identifies which ELECTED official is in bed w/whom.
A very thought provoking quote, at least for me it is:
“In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
Martin Niemöller, 1945
I love that quotation! Thanks for sharing.
YW… TY for your blog :)! You do a great job :).
Don’t think Martin Niemöller is being very truthfull.
http://thegreateststorynevertold.tv/hitler-and-the-banksters-the-abolition-of-interest-servitude/
After that you might want to look up Hellstorm.
I really appreciated your heads up and have sent the below message to the senator in question. While I personally represent a UK-based company with the highest of ethics when it comes to ingredients and business practices (Neal’s Yard Remedies) I have many friends and fellow vendors who make lovely home made products and I would hate to see them burdened in this way! If anyone wants to copy any of my message, feel free.
Regarding S.1014
Hello, I am very concerned about the ingredients that are routinely used in US-produced health and beauty products. However, this particular bill completely overlooks those in our country who are producing the highest quality soaps and lotions in small controlled batches to be sold at farmers markets and online. I personally do not make any of these products, but I have friends who do and I believe these small businesses need to be protected. Please consider not allowing this bill to be passed along until it has been amended to exempt small producers. Instead, we need a bill that targets particular harmful ingredients that are used by the largest companies in the US, but have been banned in Europe. The products we use on our bodies need to be examined with the same scrutiny as the products we use in our bodies. But this bill will only punish and put out of business the very people who are trying to offer a healthier alternative. The fact that this bill is supported by the worst offenders in using toxic ingredients shows that it will not affect their bottom line or making any significant change in the industry except eliminating cottage industry that they obviously see as a threat. The American people are becoming more aware all the time of the unhealthy chemicals they are surrounded by and are making purchasing decisions that are threatening the livelihood of these large corporations. Changes need to be made, but this bill is not the way to make them.
Thank you for reading my note and considering my words.
When I saw the subject line of the email about this I could have sworn it said soup!
Why should companies that don’t use toxic chemicals have to pay a user fee? Makes no sense.
What!?
Our govt sucks.
Everyone should call tier senator today- tell them the bill name and why you reserve the right to buy handmade products rather than industrial chemicals
Glad I just give away my soap.
How is it possible? How will they find them? This makes me choke.
Can’t you sell a pretty box and get a free soap with it?
So damn ridiculous!
Enough already!
like they don t have enough to do ? keep local local
“These user fees are a minor burden for major corporations, many of whom support the bill (including big names like Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Revlon, Unilver, and L’Oreal).”- Just as I suspected. This bill is nothing but rent seeking. The big companies are using the government to bully small, privately owned companies.
Sad…..
What!!? Will they ever stop meddling? This is the only kind of soap I use anymore – pure natural ingredients with no toxic chemicals. Plus, I support artisans and small businesses.
Well look to the lobbyists……I bet Proctor and Gamble are all over this…….then whom ever votes for this, you have options next election time. It’s always about money, always.
It won’t only be soap makers, it would be ANY small business that makes body care products. Lotion, soap, shampoo, conditioner, makeup, you name it.
We have an out of control government that answers to no one.
Time to know your soap maker , anything you buy maker…go local, go off the grid.
Well…#1 that’s bullshit and #2 I’m so not surprised
Congress is at it again. Big soap companies trying to leverage control.
Another case where people with money get richer and squash the little business owner.
I guess there is nothing else going on in this country huh? Really what jackasses
Wrong, again.
Ugh
This is why I like to run my business under the radar.
Frustrating beyond belief!
So typical of anything our government touches. Our Founding Fathers would be disgusted by the current state of affairs and those responsible.
This bill is for cosmetics only and soap does not fall in this category according to the fda. It is a wash off product. Businesses under $100k are exempt….which probably covers most of the farmer’s market vendors. Even under $500k has much less stringent reporting regulations and much less fees in this bill.
I addressed the point about exemptions in the post. $100k is the gross amount of products sold per facility. If you consider that at least half of that will go to taxes and overhead, that leaves at most $50K annually to be split among employees. This represents the super small endeavors (no more than 1 full-time or 2 part time employees, really), and the number is arbitrarily based on the numbers/standards from the drugs and medical advice industries. As soon as it turns into an operation that needs two full-time employees, the small business is suddenly burdened with having to obey the new regulations.
The Homemade Cosmetic Alliance actually spoke with the bill’s sponsors and argued that rather than treating these cottage industry cosmetics and soaps like drugs, the standard should be taken from the exemptions for cottage industry made in the Food Modernization and Safety Act, which allowed exemptions for producers grossing under $2M annually. While that may sound like a lot of money, that’s still a small business with under 20 full-time employees. What matters here is that they made their case, and the bill’s sponsors ignored their very reasonable arguments about exemption standards.
Also of note is that the exemption total is calculated per facility, not business. So if you and a few other artisan soap and cosmetic makers wanted to join together to form a co-op (to share space and cut down on overhead) and the facility you rented together made more than $100K per year, then all of your individual businesses would be subject to the law, even if no single one of them made more than $100K of product in a year.
Basically, these exemptions are nowhere near sufficient for real life small businesses.
I thought soap isconsdered a cosmetic if you put a label on it?
Clearly nothing else happening I. The country.
Wild Duck Soup Emporium see this?
Elizabeth Peterson your good friend who makes soap might be interested…
Why
Please read Marie Gale’s post. True soap is NOT a cosmetic unless you make claims. There is a lot of scaremongering on the net over this possible bill. There is only a 3-4% chance that this proposed bill will actually pass. http://blog.mariegale.com/personal-care-products-safety-act/#more-1804
Thank you for posting this info from Marie.. I was wonder if she had any input and what it was.
Hi Sherry,
In the post, I cited a post by Simple Unhooked Living in which they wrote: “According to FDA.gov, the agency considers a product soap if it consists primarily of alkali salts of fatty acids and is intended only for cleansing. However, if there is an intention to make the user more attractive by imparting fragrance, acting as a deodorant, or moisturizing the skin, for example, it becomes a cosmetic and is regulated as such, even though it may legally be labeled soap. FDA says hardly anybody makes plain old fashioned soap anymore.
Cosmetics are “articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced into, or otherwise applied to the human body…for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance” [FD&C Act, sec. 201(i)]. Any body care product that is not soap in the strict sense of the word, is regulated as a cosmetic or drug. Natural products made by home based producers may include: moisturizers, balms, salves, shampoos, deodorants, and massage oils. FDA classified them as either cosmetics or drugs, depending on the intent behind them. For example, if you bottle a natural oil and add a scent for massage oil, it’s a cosmetic if you intended to lubricate the skin and emit a pleasant odor. The moment a claim is made that it helps relieve soreness, it becomes a drug and different regulations kick in.”
So the way I read that is that there’s plain jane soap (which almost no soap is these days), then there’s COSMETIC soap which is a soap that claims to cleanse, deodorize, moisturize, etc., then there’s DRUG soap which is a soap that claims to soothe, heal, or promote wellness. Basically, in the same way that the FDA lays claims to regulate food as drugs if the foods make health claims (even scientifically backed ones), they regulate soap as either a cosmetic or a drug based on the soap’s marketing claims.
Make sense?
Penny , have you seen this?!
What next!
Elizabeth Jarvis Knudson
Yes this isn’t for soap makers but for those making “cosmetics” and only if you make over $100,000 a year.
I feel like I addressed this in the post. $100K is not a sufficient exemption by any standard. If you consider that $50K of that gross is going to taxes and overhead, that leaves just $50K to be split among employees. That’s basically 1 full-time employee or (at most) 2 part-time employees. That’s a super super small business. While I’m glad it’s exempted, the reality is that a realistically small business (with fewer than 15 full-time employees) would be grossing around $2M per year.
Also, according to the FDA, cosmetics are “articles intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced into, or otherwise applied to the human body…for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance” [FD&C Act, sec. 201(i)]. So, realistically speaking, as soon as the soap makes a marketing claim of any kind (like saying the soap “refreshes,” “soothes,” “energizes,” etc.) it becomes subject to regulations as a cosmetic or drug depending on the precise turn of phrase used. If you make soap, call it “soap,” and say absolutely NOTHING on the label or your online marketing materials about what the fragrances or essential oils in your soap *do*, then it’s not subject to this law. But as soon as you say the fragrances are “a relaxing blend of jasmine and lavender,” it’s a cosmetic.
Glad to see Congress is putting their time and energy into the real threat to our health and freedom – People Who Make Soap. I feel so much safer now.
Danna Brennfoerder have you seen anything about this?
No I haven’t, Stacey Gibson.
FDA hasn’t protected consumers in years. This is ridiculous. …..
I hate our govt when they pull this BS.
EU has already destroyed many of our soap maker in the UK favouring the big companies. Fight and fight hard against it. Good luck.
thank you for spreading the word. My fledgling business will be toast if lawmakers get everything they want.
Typical unAmerican economic policies to wipe out the small manufacturer. Artisan soaps are much higher quality, often last longer, and are way better than anything those LOBBYISTS sell, and they hate it.
None of my soaps have ANY of those ingredients in them. Never heard of those chemicals being in any artisan’s soaps. What a bunch of bunk.
As I was reading this, a picture popped into my mind of the people responsible for this bill in a dark, smoke filled room, rubbing their hands together in greedy fashion discussing how they can get everything they want. Obviously mom and pop shops have taken a big chunk of today’s soap market. What better than a bill that makes them look good (because they are making an effort to get rid of the harmful chemicals) and puts many small companies out of business too. Sneaky, underhanded and I guess not unexpected. God forbid these people would ever once just be honest and caring, willing to relinquish some of there profits to better the world.
It really is so simple and should be, as you suggested, a ban on certain ingredients thereby not affecting small shops at all.
Very typical pattern is beginning to show.
First, they export our jobs.
Then, they tell us to go into business for ourselves–become “Entrepreneurs”, even though the odds are already 90% against us.
Then they regulate the survivors out of business.
WHY do we keep voting for these people.
As an Irish Soapmaker myself, I know only too well how EU regulations can impact on my business, and yes it can be a pain in the ass sometimes. However, as most Soapmakers I know, take pride in producing products that are safe, and of the highest quality possible, I don’t feel we have anything to fear from strict regulation. If fact, by allowing every Tom, Dick and Harry to produce and sell substandard products, are we not simply undermining our craft?
I am a soapmaker from the Philippines. I’ve heard of conspiracies of “group of doctors” trying to control natural approaches in medications using effective plant-derivatives. I will not wonder if some governments who gets a pretty amount of tax would benefit from big cosmetic industries and find a way to kill small artisans who by all means are only after creating natural products