Fragrance Mixtures Need to Be Kept Secret, Group Says
The International Fragrance Association North America has come out with an animated video series challenging a portion of a law introduced by Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) that would require cleaning products to have ingredient lists on their bottles.
The problem with the bill, IFRA says, is that it does not exempt the fragrance recipes used in the products. IFRA claims these are artistic creations that need to be protected.
"The exact mixture of ingredients that go into a fragrance must be kept secret. Otherwise anybody can steal it and call it their own," one of the videos says. "That's years of hard work and money down the drain. We think it's just plain wrong to force artists to detail their special mixtures because they can't use legal protections like patents and trademarks the way other great inventions do."
Jennifer Abril, the executive director of IFRA North America, said that the list of ingredients perfumers can choose from for their fragrances is published separately and that the ingredients are reviewed for safety. In addition to the videos, IFRA has been meeting with lawmakers to raise awareness about what it sees as the problem with the legislation.
"By revealing the ingredients, it's extraordinarily commercially damaging to a small, niche industry," Abril said.
Israel introduced the bill earlier this month in light of a new report from Women's Voices for the Earth that claimed common household cleaners contain toxic chemicals that were not listed on product labels.
The American Cleaning Institute is opposing the bill as a whole, saying that mandatory federal regulation is unnecessary because consumers can already find ingredient information online through an ingredient communication initiative. It also dismissed the WVE report and emphasized that cleaning products are safe to use.
"The attack by Women's Voices for the Earth upon companies and specific cleaning products is disappointing and regrettable, and only serves to unnecessarily alarm consumers and distort product safety," ACI president and CEO Ernie Rosenberg said in a statement.
The problem with the bill, IFRA says, is that it does not exempt the fragrance recipes used in the products. IFRA claims these are artistic creations that need to be protected.
"The exact mixture of ingredients that go into a fragrance must be kept secret. Otherwise anybody can steal it and call it their own," one of the videos says. "That's years of hard work and money down the drain. We think it's just plain wrong to force artists to detail their special mixtures because they can't use legal protections like patents and trademarks the way other great inventions do."
Jennifer Abril, the executive director of IFRA North America, said that the list of ingredients perfumers can choose from for their fragrances is published separately and that the ingredients are reviewed for safety. In addition to the videos, IFRA has been meeting with lawmakers to raise awareness about what it sees as the problem with the legislation.
"By revealing the ingredients, it's extraordinarily commercially damaging to a small, niche industry," Abril said.
Israel introduced the bill earlier this month in light of a new report from Women's Voices for the Earth that claimed common household cleaners contain toxic chemicals that were not listed on product labels.
The American Cleaning Institute is opposing the bill as a whole, saying that mandatory federal regulation is unnecessary because consumers can already find ingredient information online through an ingredient communication initiative. It also dismissed the WVE report and emphasized that cleaning products are safe to use.
"The attack by Women's Voices for the Earth upon companies and specific cleaning products is disappointing and regrettable, and only serves to unnecessarily alarm consumers and distort product safety," ACI president and CEO Ernie Rosenberg said in a statement.
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