SC Johnson discloses fragrance ingredients as part of a collaboration with retailers and NGO’s.

So many useful consumer products, such as household cleaners, soaps, detergents, and air fresheners contain fragrances. Unlike with food and drugs, the companies selling these products do not have to list all the ingredients or chemicals they contain.

However, in 2015 this will change. Leading retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target have established new programs and policies that will reward manufacturers of consumer goods if they publicly disclose ingredients in some product categories such as cleaning and personal care.

SC Johnson responded by announcing it will expand its ingredient disclosure efforts by providing product-specific fragrance ingredient information. This marks a transformational initiative by a major U.S. consumer packaged goods company to provide fragrance ingredient information at the product level. Beginning in the spring of 2015, consumers will have access to the main ingredients used to create the fragrances in some SC Johnson products. The company will begin disclosing air care fragrance ingredients present at the highest concentrations down to .09 percent of the product formula. Consumers will be able to access this information on WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com or by calling the SC Johnson directly.

The program will then expand into other product categories. Because fewer fragrance ingredients are typically used, SC Johnson will list fragrance ingredients present at a concentration of more than .09 percent in the final product or the top ten fragrance ingredients, whichever provides the most information for consumers. Additional fragrance ingredients found in SC Johnson products that are not disclosed are present at extremely low concentrations and will continue to be available via the company’s online palette of fragrance ingredients.

This bold move is an excellent example of how a large company listened and acted on feedback from the NGO community and their consumers. They established a new process and policy towards greater transparency of chemicals in products and supply chains.

Source: http://www.scjohnson.com/en/press-room/press-releases/10-09-2014/SC-Johnson-Announces-Plans-to-Disclose-Product-Specific-Fragrance-Ingredients.aspx

What are the impacts to your business?

Questions to consider:

• Are you engaging in industry collaborations?
• Are you looking at how to address better disclosure or transparency in your products?
• Do you have guiding principles around how you use and manage chemicals in your products?

For help with any issue associated with chemicals, contact Amanda Cattermole at (415) 412 8406 or Amanda@cattermoleconsulting.com. We can help you develop powerful solutions to protect your company and brand reputation that also result in safer products manufactured in cleaner supply chains.

Tips and Insights is published bi-monthly and contains information to help you make informed chemical management decisions. Each post highlights a particular topic and includes questions you may want to consider for your business.