Avalon Organics® Celebrates Earth Day

MELVILLE, N.Y., April 19, 2012  /PRNewswire/ -- With Earth Day right around the corner, the Avalon Organics® personal care brand wants to remind beauty consumers about the importance of going green!

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120419/NY90340)

In the biggest organic news story of the year, the Avalon Organics® brand announced its transition to the NSF/ANSI 305 Standard for personal care products containing organic ingredients. Because it can be hard to know which brands are "greenwashers" and which brands are truly sustainable and high in organic content, this certification makes it easier for consumers to tell the difference.

Unlike organic foods and beverages, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has yet to create specific organic standards for formulating and labeling personal care products that contain organic ingredients, so it is difficult for consumers to tell what portion of a product is truly organic, even when labeled as such. NSF/ANSI 305, the American National Standard specific to personal care products that contain organic ingredients, establishes the materials, processes, production criteria and conditions that must be met in order for a brand to make organic content claims. Under this standard, all personal care products with "contains organic ingredients" claims (other than in ingredient lists) must contain a minimum organic content of 70 percent. Additionally, formulas must only contain ingredients that have gone through rigorous evaluation by a scientific panel and have been approved by the NSF/ANSI 305 joint committee.

"Creating just one efficacious, cosmetically elegant formula that meets the NSF/ANSI 305 standard is a daunting task in itself, so reformulating the entire line was an enormous accomplishment," said Emma Froelich-Shea, senior vice president, marketing and R&D of Hain Celestial Personal Care. "The transition was three years in the making, but we're committed to meeting the standards and the expectations of our consumers, no matter what. This Earth Day, we want to reaffirm our commitment to the future of organic personal care and our core values of integrity, efficacy, purity and safety."

Renowned green lifestyle expert Sophie Uliano adds, "More and more people are shopping for organic foods and beverages to avoid ingesting harmful chemicals, yet a lot of personal care products out there contain potentially toxic, irritating, harsh and, in some cases, purported cancer-causing ingredients. Because many of these substances can be absorbed into the body through the skin, I believe we should avoid them in our body care products and instead look for products that are truly clean, pure and made from organic and natural ingredients that are both effective and safe.

To turn over a new leaf this Earth Day, start looking for the NSF Contains Organic Ingredients seal on your personal care products to be certain they contain a high level of organic content. 

Avalon Organics® products are available nationwide at Whole Foods Market, Target, Walmart, drug stores, grocery stores and natural food stores as well as at www.avalonorganics.com.

The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.
The Hain Celestial Group (NASDAQ: HAIN), headquartered in Melville, NY, is a leading natural and organic products company in North America and Europe. Hain Celestial participates in many natural categories with well-known brands that include Celestial Seasonings®, Earth's Best®, Terra®, Garden of Eatin'®, Sensible Portions®, Health Valley®, Arrowhead Mills®, MaraNatha®, SunSpire®, DeBoles®, Gluten Free Café™, Hain Pure Foods®, Hollywood®, Spectrum Naturals®, Spectrum Essentials®, Walnut Acres Organic®, Imagine®, Almond Dream®, Rice Dream®, Soy Dream®, WestSoy®, The Greek Gods®, Ethnic Gourmet®, Yves Veggie Cuisine®, Europe's Best®, New Covent Garden Soup Co.®, Johnson's Juice Co.®, Farmhouse Fare®, Linda McCartney®, Daily Bread™, Lima®, Danival®, GG UniqueFiber®, Grains Noirs®, Natumi®, JASON®, Zia® Natural Skincare, Avalon Organics®, Alba Botanica®, Queen Helene®, Earth's Best TenderCare® and Martha Stewart Clean™.  Hain Celestial has been providing "A Healthy Way of Life™" since 1993.  For more information, visit www.hain-celestial.com.

© 2012 The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.  All rights reserved. 

SOURCE Avalon Organics