Natural Instinct leader in misleading claims: Get your refund NOW

I am absolutely disgusted to find that Natural Instinct and Organic Instinct brands which are owned by Natural Products of Australia Pty Ltd have been so incredibly and deliberately misleading and deceptive in the promotion of their not so natural personal care products.

The company has been found to guilty of deliberately failing to list all ingredients on the on the ingredients lists such as Sodium Laureth Sulphate, listing some chemicals by incorrect names, and claiming that some products are "made from 100% pure oils and certified organic herbs" when in fact, only a very minor proportion of the product uses these. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has told it to publish corrective notices in newspapers & magazine. You can read more specifics on the link below.

I think most people who know a little about labelling would have realised that the products were far from 100% pure oils and certified organic herbs, but this latest deception is really so very manipulative.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,28383,25344143-5007185,00.html

Natural Instinct and Organic Instinct have never been part of the CleanLife Directory of recommended products (aka CleanLife's favourite companies), and we are very proud of that. The many companies we have turned away over the past years often don't understand how pedantic we are in choosing the products we recommend, this horrific event brings it into perfect clarity.

Despite the company being ineligible for our directory, I had thought that their products were better than the average off your shelf supermarket variety, and would have answered as much if anybody asked, and unfortunately that may not be so. I feel truly deceived.

There are so many things that disgust me about this incident, but one of the things that makes me feel sick to the bottom of my stomach is that many of the affected products are the baby ranges. I have included the products that are affected below, so please ensure you contact NI on the number they have provided on their website and, get your refund if you have purchased any affected products.

I am also incredibly upset at the effect this may have on people who were only recently starting to convert to natural products. Many families start with Natural Instinct because it is easy to access and cheap. Will those companies be put off natural and organic products altogether? I hope not.

What you can do to protect your family:

1) Learn to read labels, our labelling legislation in Australia is incredibly weak, read more about it here;
http://www.cleanlife.com.au/cleantips/labelling_myths.html
or
http://www.cleanlife.com.au/cleantips02.htm

2) Learn which chemicals need to be avoided and clean out your bathroom cupboard now
http://www.cleanlife.com.au/cleantips03.htm

3) Choose products from reputable companies, like those on the CleanLife directory
http://www.cleanlife.com.au/complist.htm

4) Ensure that you seek the full refund for any products you have purchased that many have been affected, see details below.

Here is an extract from the correction notice that comes as a pop up on the Natural Instinct website (if your pop up blocker doesn't get to it first as mine did).

Non-compliant labelling and misleading claims

Following an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (the ACCC), Natural Instinct has acknowledged that it may have breached sections 52, 53(a), 55 and 65D of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (the Act) in the labelling of some of its products and in brochures distributed by Natural Instinct.

Until on or about 30 June 2008:

• Natural Instinct did not include sodium laureth sulphate (plant derived), cocamide DEA, cetrimonium chloride and citric acid as ingredients on the labels of the products listed in Table A, as required by the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Information Standards) (Cosmetic) Regulations 1991 (the Standard).

TABLE A

Ingredient	Products affected
Sodium Laureth Sulphate (plant derived)	Baby shampoo Baby bath wash Body wash	Foaming cleanser Hand wash Shampoo
Cocamide DEA	Baby shampoo Body wash Foaming cleanser	Hand wash Shampoo
Cetrimonium Chloride	Baby conditioner	Conditioner
Citric Acid	Baby bath wash Baby conditioner Baby shampoo Baby moisturising lotion Body wash Conditioner Facial scrub	Foaming facial cleanser Hand cream Hand wash Hydrating toner Moisturiser Shampoo

• Natural Instinct did not list ingredients in the correct order on the products listed in Table B, as required by the Standard.

TABLE B

Products affected
Aloe Vera Gel	Baby bath wash	Baby conditioner
Baby moisturising lotion	Baby shampoo	Body lotion
Body wash	Conditioner	Facial scrub
Foaming facial cleanser	Hand cream	Hand wash
Moisturiser	Shampoo.

• Natural Instinct did not correctly name the chemicals and ingredients listed in Table C, as required by the Standard

TABLE C

INCI name	Incorrect name(s) used
Sodium laureth sulphate (plant derived)	Sodium Salt of Laureth 2 Sodium Salt of Sulphonated Laureth 2
Sodium hydroxymethylglycinate	Suttocide
Fragrance (USA) Parfum / Profumo (UE)	Preservative T
Cetrimonium Chloride	Quaternised derivative of palm oil

Full details of the Section 87B Undertaking and a list of affected products can be found on the Public Register on the ACCC’s website at www.accc.gov.au.

To compensate customers who purchased Natural Instinct products and believe they have been misled, Natural Instinct is offering a refund for the full purchase price of affected products. For more information about claims for refunds contact Edwina Pearce of Natural Instinct on 1800 771 063 or at customerservice@natural instinct.com.au by 6 June 2009.

Please forward this information on to as many people as you can.

With best wishes

Gina