The
company
that
makes
Dr.
Bronner's
Magic
Soaps,
a
counterculture
staple,
sued
many
of
its
personal
care
competitors
Monday
over
the
validity
of
their
organic
labels
as
the
once-quiet
"green"
cosmetic
sector
has
soared
in
popularity,
luring
several
Wall
Street
corporations
into
the
field.
The
lawsuit,
filed
in
San
Francisco
Superior
Court,
accused
10
companies
and
two
industry
groups
of
selling
and
promoting
soaps,
lotions
and
other
products
that
are
manufactured
using
conventionally
grown
crops
or
chemicals
derived
from
petroleum.
Dr.
Bronner's
alleges
that
it's
unfair
to
label
such
products
organic
and
is
asking
a
judge
to
prevent
Hain
Celestial
Group
Inc.,
Estee
Lauder
Inc.
and
the
other
companies
named
in
the
lawsuit
from
doing
so.
"There
is
widespread
abuse
of
the
word
'organic'
throughout
the
industry
and
it's
spiraling
out
of
control,"
said
company
president
David
Bronner.
"It's
an
industry
based
on
marketing
and
hype
and
the
organic
labels
are
a
form
of
corrosive
marketing."
Bronner
said
a
negotiated
settlement
before
the
lawsuit
was
filed
broke
down
over
some
of
the
companies'
refusal
to
cut
out
the
use
of
petrochemicals
from
products
bearing
organic
labels.
But
one
of
the
two
industry
groups,
Ecocert
Inc.,
last
week
filed
a
pre-emptive
lawsuit
of
its
own
against
All
One
God
Faith
Inc.,
the
company
that
makes
Dr.
Bronner's
soap.
Ecocert
is
a
French
company
that
certifies
products,
including
cosmetics,
as
"organic"
according
to
European
Union
standards.
According
to
Ecocert's
lawsuit,
also
filed
in
San
Francisco,
Bronner
threatened
to
drag
the
company
through
"the
proverbial
mud
and
to
engage
in
widespread
and
negative
publicity
aimed
at
sullying"
Ecocert
if
it
refused
to
adopt
more
stringent
certifying
standards.
The
Ecocert
lawsuit
asks
a
judge
to
essentially
toss
out
Bronner's
lawsuit.
Many
products
use
the
petroleum-based
chemicals
to
produce
better
suds
in
soap
and
shampoo.
Bronner
said
the
same
effects
can
be
achieved
without
the
chemicals,
but
the
manufacturing
takes
more
time
and
money.
Bronner
said
business
is
booming
at
All
One
God
Faith
Inc.,
the
name
his
grandfather
dubbed
the
company
60
years
ago.
Since
then,
it
has
been
churning
out
soap
that
caught
on
with
hippies
in
the
1960s,
yuppies
in
the
1980s
and
now
the
growing
legions
of
natural
food
shoppers
who
flock
to
Whole
Foods
grocery
stores
and
study
product
labels.
The
company's
soap
stands
out
for
its
quirky
labels
that
are
packed
with
minuscule
musings
from
Marx
and
Mao,
to
Oprah
Winfrey
and
Carl
Sagan.
Bronner
said
the
50-employee
company's
annual
revenues
increased
20
percent
last
year
to
$23
million
and
he
expects
similar
growth
this
year.
That's
why
companies
such
as
Estee
Lauder,
whose
Aveda
line
was
called
into
question
in
the
lawsuit,
and
Hain
Celestial
are
rushing
to
compete
with
their
own
versions
of
organic
personal
care
products.
He
said
there
are
no
formal
organic
labeling
regulations
for
the
personal
care
industry
as
there
are
for
the
food
industry,
which
requires
U.S.
Department
of
Agriculture
approval.
"We
are
long
overdue
for
decisive
action,"
Organic
Consumers
Association
director
Ronnie
Cummins
said.
"It's
very
important
that
companies
using
labels
that
say
organic
are
actually
organic;
otherwise
they'll
degrade
the
whole
organic
notion."
The
Finland,
Minn.-based
association
is
backing
Dr.
Bronner's
lawsuit,
which
is
essentially
a
false
advertising
and
unfair
business
complaint
filed
under
California's
unique
"personal
attorney
general"
statute.
Last
month,
the
association
released
a
study
that
showed
48
"natural"
and
"organic"
soaps,
shampoos
and
other
products
tested
positive
for
a
petrochemical.
Representatives
for
Hain
Celestial
Group
and
Aveda
did
not
immediately
return
calls
for
comment
Monday.
