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Guthy Renker Corporation


What Cosmetics Businesses Are Not Telling the Consumer About Hypoallergenic Skin Care Products


Many of us are familiar with the saying hypoallergenic. It is used in advertisements and placed on product labels of shampoos, moisturizers, make-up, and even jewelry. Many folks think it means a product that is hypoallergenic won't react with their allergies. But is this really what it means?

The saying first appeared in the sixties from cosmetics advertisers. The word comes from the Grecian prefix hypo, which translates to below or less. Less allergens is the literal translation of the word. Since it's inception it has been commonly accepted and used by manufacturers, marketers, and advertisers to sell products that claim to be more gentle on the skin than other products similar to it. But is this really how it is?

In 1974, the FDA tried again to regulate products that said they were hypoallergenic. The FDA stated that a product could be proclaimed hypoallergenic only if studies were done on patients and it proved to be a blatantly lower reaction to allergens than products not making the claim. It then stated the companies had to conduct these experiments on their own and (most importantly) at their own cost. This of course caused major upsets and manufacturers instantly filed lawsuits against the decision, claiming that the tests would cause an unjust economic hardship on them. The two most prolific challengers of this effort at regulation were Almay and Clinique, two makers of hypoallergenic cosmetics.

The American Food and Drug Administration has stated, Hypoallergenic cosmetics are products that companies say produce fewer allergic reactions than other cosmetic products. Consumers with sensitive skin, and also users with ordinary skin, may perceive that these products will be more gentle to their skin than non-hypoallergenic products. There are no Federal laws or definitions that control the use of the saying hypoallergenic. A manufacturer can make the term mean whatever they want it to. Manufacturers of beauty products that claim to be hypoallergenic are not required to submit substantiation of their hypoallergenicity claims to FDA. The word hypoallergenic has insubstantial meaning according to physicians even though it is a significant marketing term.

The FDA attempted again to standardize the use of the saying on June 6, 1975 by still requiring cosmetics producers to do scientific tests but the proceedings for the experiments were changed to lower the cost to the manufacturers. Manufacturers who evidently didn't want any rules on the products they manufactured did not like this either. Cosmetic manufacturers opposed the FDA choice in the U.S. Court of Appeals, which decided that the standard was not binding. The judges said the definition of hypoallergenic the FDA gave was unjust because of a lack of evidence that people perceived the word in the way it is described by the organization. The result? Manufacturers can continue to advertise and label their products hypoallergenic without any kind of guidelines or laws set forth by the government. Consumers have no way of knowing that a product that says hypoallergenic is any less allergic than any other products. A product could be loaded with toxins and allergy causing agents and a company could supposedly still make it.

The lone little triumph that the FDA seems to have had is that at least now manufacturers are now required to put the ingredients on the labels of the products so that consumers can avoid chemicals that they know they are allergic to or have had problems with in the past. As customers, we must be aware of ingredients in the products we consume because obviously the companies who create them aren't very concerned about our good health over their profit margins. There is no doubt that some products out there that claim to be hypoallergenic really are, but if you are a wise consumer and concerned for you and your family's well being, you will do some studying on your own and not be reliant on these companies proclamations .



Guthy Renker Corporation


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