The words ‘natural’ and even ‘organic’ have become so over-used and abused by some that consumers have – often rightly – become sceptical about some of the claims made.

‘Natural’ has become a bandwagon to jump on, and clarity for consumers hasn’t been helped by a plethora of schemes with different stamps and gradings. Most have been national schemes, a handful European, and none truly global.

For consumers wanting genuinely natural products it became a case of having to do your homework first. Now the mists are clearing. Welcome to NaTrue. Unlike other certification schemes which are often expensive to sign up to and lucrative for the certifying body, NaTrue is a not-for-profit initiative.

Started by an international group of natural and organic cosmetics manufacturers sharing the highest ideals, NaTrue operates worldwide.

NaTrue’s goals are:

•  Developing a widely-accepted and qualified network for the Natural and Organic Cosmetics industry and representing this industry in Europe and beyond.

•  Promoting awareness of the value of the ingredients in natural and organic cosmetics for both consumer health and the environment.

•  Working to secure the availability and diversity of premium raw materials for natural and organic cosmetics.

•  Establishing an international, fully transparent and purely quality driven label that consumers worldwide can trust.

•  Supporting scientific activities and provision of data to the European Institutions.

Besides water, NaTrue certified products contain only natural ingredients, nearly natural ingredients or nature-identical ingredients.

‘Natural ingredients’ are defined as ingredients found in nature that have not been chemically modified. ‘Nearly natural ingredients’ are those derived from natural ingredients only but involving chemical reactions (the permitted chemical reactions are clearly set out in the NaTrue criteria). ‘Nature-identical ingredients’ exist in nature but are derived through chemical reaction, and are only permitted when these substances cannot be obtained from nature in the desired quantity or quality.

The NaTrue label has three star ratings to differentiate between:

NaTrue One Star – Natural cosmetics

NaTrue Two Star – Natural cosmetics with organic ingredients

NaTrue Three Star – Organic cosmetics

Minimum and maximum levels for these ingredient groups are strictly regulated by NaTrue.

If a product contains more than a specified amount of ‘nearly natural’ ingredients, even if there are some organic ingredients in the product it won’t necessarily get a two star rating.

Along with ingredients information submitted by the manufacturer, NaTrue insists on complete traceability of production (an audit of each production facility to be repeated every two years).

NaTrue was established in 2008, and by February 2009 the first 100 products had been certified. Of course it takes a while for companies to be able to change their packaging, so while all Weleda’s body care products have received NaTrue certification, the first time you’ll see their kitemark on our packs is on the new Pomegranate Bodycare range.

For those wanting to check out NaTrue standards visit www.natrue.org. For a list of all brands and products so far certified, visit www.natruelabel.com Weleda is delighted to be one of the founders of this scheme and we are confident NaTrue will become a useful quick check for consumers (no matter what country they’re in) who want to know that what they’re buying is guaranteed to live up to any ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ claims.

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© Weleda 2010