Living in
Transparent
Times
AVA CARIDAD
Editorial Director
Recently, SC Johnson (SCJ) announced that
Where the demand for product transparency came from and how companies respond
it will disclose the presence of 368 potential
skin allergens that may occur in its products
on its WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com website.
According to press materials provided by the company,
SCJ considers it important to disclose these ingredients
particularly for people with a pre-existing skin
allergy. The consumer goods manufacturer also points
out its history of ingredient transparency, starting in
2009 with its U.S. and Canada ingredient disclosure
program.
“For us, transparency is a matter of principle,” said
Fisk Johnson, SCJ Chairman & CEO.
“Just like when we started listing preservatives, dyes and
fragrances, we didn’t stop with the industry standard. We want to
tell the whole story. This is just the next step we are taking in our
journey to be more and more transparent.”
SCJ is not alone in this initiative. In April of this year, Bayer,
the maker of Coppertone sun care products, announced it had
commissioned an independent “assurance assessment,”
available to the public and designed to provide consumers
with additional information when choosing sunscreen.
According to Bayer, the assessment concluded that “its
products comply with internal and all applicable external
guidelines to ensure the labeling accuracy of Coppertone
products, accurately test and implement quality assurance
procedures, and are found to comply with quality, safety
and efficacy requirements.” The full report is available
online.
Unilever also announced a new transparency initiative
to provide consumers with access to additional ingredient
information about its home and personal care products. According
to the company, the initiative goes beyond labeling requirements
to provide in-depth product and ingredient information.
Launching in the U.S. and Europe, the initiative includes fragrance
ingredient disclosure, a “What’s in our Products” section
on Unilever websites and enhanced fragrance allergen information.
Additionally, Unilever offers SmartLabel, a digital tool
being used by the company and a growing number of consumer
goods and food companies in the U.S. to give consumers easy
24 Spray August 2017
and instantaneous access to product information beyond what is
on the product’s label.
Even smaller companies can provide additional ingredient
disclosure by using enhanced packaging technology such as
Phone Me, an interactive label. By holding an unlocked smart
phone close to the Phone Me label, prospective consumers can be
instantaneously connected to a product website with promotional
video or any other online promotion. Phone Me also recognizes
the user’s language by delivering content in the language that has
been installed into the smart phone.
Why all this willingness to disclose ingredients, even with
the possible risk of disclosing trade secrets? Because consumers
demand it.
Consumer demand for transparency is anything but a new
trend. People have used the collective voice to influence market
quality and vendor decisions for
hundreds of years, says Jan Lee,
a writer at TriplePundit.com. In
the 18th century, French peasants
rioted to draw attention to the
lack of quality bread and corrupt
business practices in the grain industry.
The 18th and 19th century
child labor laws that emerged in
the U.S. and England were the
first guidelines to regulate how
people were treated in the labor
force. They highlighted abusive labor conditions and helped send
a message to mill owners and other employers that the public was
watching and expected better business practices.
A new reality
Before the invention of the internet, product information was
available through product labels, accompanying leaflets or by contacting
the manufacturer by phone or mail. It took a little time,
effort and sometimes frustration to glean any desired additional
information. Today’s consumers don’t have that kind of patience;
they want information immediately and use these gathered facts
to make decisions about virtually every purchase they make.
Whether it’s product reviews, political opinions, innermost