The regional Consumer Association in Hamburg, Germany published a press release on 9 December 2009 entitled 'Greenwashing in cosmetics'. The association analysed 20 products on the German market and found: many wrongfully claim the use of natural or organic products.

The association published this pdf showing the claims of selected products. It lists the products’ ingredients, highlighting, in each case, ingredients that are not allowed in Natural Cosmetics according to the NaTrue criteria. The document is in German but the photos speak a clear language even for non-German speakers.

Natural and Organic Cosmetics are not regulated by law and misleading claims are not a new phenomenon. They become more frequent as ever more consumers turn to products with natural ingredients.

The Hamburg Consumer Association calls for clear provisions to be included into the EU Cosmetics Directive as fast as possible and for independent bodies to control adherence to those provisions.

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