The U.S. House of Representatives introduced H.R. 3057 – Household Product Labeling Act on June 25, 2009. The act will require that household cleaning products and similar products bear a label that contains a complete and accurate list of all the product’s ingredients.
Earth Friendly's Zainz Stain Remover
A similar act was introduced and passed for all personal care products. The new act seeks to inform consumers of every ingredient found in a typical household cleaner. Household products can and do contain chemicals that can be harmful to people. Shedding light for consumers on what is in a household product is a long over due step. The European Union has had legislation on their books that provides for the ingredients and a range of percentages of those ingredients found in the household product you purchase. The E.U.’s approach is quite sensible. Beyond listing ingredients, they are providing you with a range of percentages. The range of percentages does provide the manufacturer with a way to some what protect their proprietary formulas, but provides the consumer with ingredient disclosure, and range of how much of that ingredient is in the product. Typical E.U. disclosure can show Aqua (water) to be has high as 95% in some products, and in the E.U., it would list that ingredient with a percentage range of 80-95% for example. The U.S. legislation should also provide for those ranges too. It would somewhat protect a manufacturers ability to obscure the exact formula from its competitors, yet still provide consumers with ingredient disclosure. Unfortunately, the bill is now in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and not much activity is being focused on it. Even the media is not touting the benefits of this legislation for the public either. This is important legislation and should be advance to the house floor for a vote. The Senate does not even have a corresponding bill to consider that emulates the House version, and this needs to be rectified as well. Both the Senate and House need to act on this legislation now.
John Vlahakis
Recent Comments