Organic Consumer Association invokes chemical scares in suing organic infant formula maker

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis.

Chemjobber put me on to this lawsuit filing, which is brought by the Organic Consumer’s Association versus The Honest Company. . . .

They’re going after the Honest people for their infant formula, which they say is falsely marketed as being “organic”. Their specific complaints are interesting on two levels. From a legal standpoint, just based on what I can see, they may well have grounds for complaint (see their paragraphs 5 through 11). . . .

. . . .

But the rest of the document. . .oh, boy. The OCA is not content to come in with a suit that says that these things have to be on this list. . . Instead, they go on, and on, and on about each substance and its horrible nonorganic nefariousness. Here, for example, is their take on . . . .

Taurine:

. . . . Even at very low doses, animal studies show the ingredient negatively impacts the brain and nervous system, metabolism, and cardiovascular system. Commercially available taurine is synthetically produced by reacting ethylene oxide with aqueous sodium bisulfate. . . .

Note the emphasis on the synthetic, unnatural routes of preparation. . . it’s an evil chemical made in a vat. But also note that taurine is, in fact, produced in the human body . . . and is also found in all sorts of other animal tissues. . . .

. . . .

The other substances the OCA objects to are in a similar vein – biotin, beta-carotene, and other well-known industrial toxins. Their problem with many of them is that they’re “synthetic”. . . But biomolecules are biomolecules. . . no matter how they’re made. So you get statements in the lawsuit such as “Phytonadione is not the same substance as phylloquinone“, when these are in fact two names for the exact same chemical substance. . .

Read full, original post: Manure Is Organic, Let’s Not Forget

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