The FDA Globalization Act of 2009...We Are Celebrating!

Hello to all of my readers I bring you Special News,

I write to you this morning with great jubilation after receiving the latest update as to what is happening within the cosmetic industry and how we were going to be affected by the FDA Globalization Act of 2009 becoming a Bill in the house yesterday.

The news is fantastic and I had promised to bring all of you up to date with the latest as it occurred. All indie companies this morning are celebrating and internet chatter is all a buzz.

There will be no mandatory fees as was intended in the original FDA Globalization Act discussion draft of 2008. These fees were so ridiculous that anyone wishing to launch their own small business wouldn't have stood a chance. If these fees had been in place, Sterling Minerals would probably have never been realized for me. The original draft was so anti small business it was literally going to quash the American Dream for many women owned businesses that formulate your favorite natural skin care products. The big box companies would have survived while smaller companies would have closed their doors, whereby eliminating your choices and their competition which are providing you with healthier choices.

The FDA's main focus is on importers to our country which have repeatedly caused harm to our nations' public in the context of drugs and food and to protect us with stricter inspections for foreign and domestic manufacturers that provide these to us. These entities have been the hardest hit by the new bill. And in terms of our health these are the entities that required some serious revamping since they are what have been linked to deaths in past months. For instance the most recent salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter.

Please be aware that certain jars of peanut butter purchased at the store are exempt from this problem and it was primarily related to products manufactured with processed foods such as peanut butter crackers or peanut butter cups, etc. etc. and two specific brands provided by ConAgra Foods, Peter Pan and Great Value.

The only thing really different is now all cosmetic companies are mandated to register with the FDA including all of their products and their list of ingredients, and must provide full disclosure. I support this very much since I am already an FDA registered company and I practice truth in labeling and have always believed in ethics of full disclosure. I will agree there are some companies out there producing products that are not manufactured under the GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) guidelines, including lack of disclosure to their ingredient lists. These companies should be called into question if they are not willing to comply with the new set of rules which will assist the FDA with keeping us safer from harmful ingredients.

Furthermore, The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics, in their petition to Congress was to call for practices that were impossible for even some of the larger companies to accomplish, and they were basically cherry picking reports on ingredients that were shown to cause cancer, injury and the like, when there are other reports to absolutely contradict their findings. Nothing is that black and white! They also were using explanations with Data gaps as high as 95% for most ingredients found in skin care products. How any entity can make such claims or take a stand to only serve their agenda, which is the reason I withdrew my support of their campaign, is beyond me. Their information is designed to scare the public, not educate it. This is literally lopsided propaganda and is utterly irresponsible.

For Example: when they attack ingredients which fall under the preservative category, this is not only unwarranted but the Campaign and EWG are actually putting your health at risk. Natural and synthetic preservatives provide a vital function for keeping skin care products from growing bacteria, yeast, mold or fungus which this would actually be more dangerous for the consumer since the nasties growing in your favorite skin care products can go undetected. A product may look and smell normal despite the bacterial growth taking place. There are safe and necessary methods today, aside from using parabens, of preserving skin care emulsions and cosmetics without causing any proven long term effects, and they are typically only 1% or less of the total emulsion. Large companies simply choose to ignore the latest in preservative technology and stick with parabens, and in lies the problem with EWG and the Campaign.

These watchdog groups, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics along with The Environmental Working Group were striving to create such a hardship on the backs of the very micro cosmetic companies that supported their efforts to get harmful chemicals out of skin care products, we simply wouldn't have survived it. This was due to being blinded by the contempt of big box companies that are harming our public with such ingredients, they couldn't even realize, much less care what their efforts were doing to those in the cosmetic industry that agreed with them as whole.

I am so thrilled to share this news with you it could not wait until next weeks news letter. It is a party within the industry and I wanted you to celebrate with us. My company will thrive and my new skin care line will be launched and our days are definitely a lot brighter for the future. Dancin' on a cloud right now! A stress relief for sure!

Thank you to all those who signed our petition as your help along with our efforts to fight this did not fall on deaf ears in congress. And it was clear that a realization of our companies efforts to continue to provide the safest and most natural products on the market today is evident due to how the current bill was written. We still have a bit of tweaking on some other issues that will help create a level playing field for independent companies versus big box names, but we believe, as indies, we will be able to work hand in hand with congress to make the bill into law and create better safety for everyone within the industry along with their customers.

Have a great weekend and CELEBRATE! Whoo Hoo!!!

For Reference Information to bring you up to date:

Preservatives in Cosmetics ~ Natural vs Synthetic
The original FDA Globalization Act of 2008
The safety of Titanium Dioxide and The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics