Fax number: 916/319-2101

To: Assembly Member Virginia Strom-Martin
Re: Support for AB 2823
Date: August 16, 2002

Dear Assembly Member Strom-Martin:

Thank you for authoring AB 2823 to begin to regulate the use of organic labels on personal care products. As a careful consumer I want to purchase only products made from safe natural ingredients. Not only is my own health at stake, but that of the farm workers who raise my food, factory and other workers who make the products I buy, and the people living downstream or downwind of farms, processing facilities, and factories. As California is an agricultural state, its residents bear the brunt of these industries.

The word "natural" has no legal meaning and everyday products can contain hundreds of untested ingredients. The best consumer protection we have is the organic label. Organic means something. It means safe. It means nontoxic. It means good health. But most consumers don't realize that the term "organic" currently only applies to food. Companies producing items other than food can use the word "organic" any way they wish, even when their product hasn't a single agricultural ingredient, let alone a majority of organically produced ones.

AB 2823 will give "organic" meaning for all products, not just food. The large corporations like Procter & Gamble want to see AB 2823 fail because they know consumers link "organic" with safe and promoting health. They don't want to take the steps necessary to make their products comply with the organic regulations, they just want to confuse consumers into buying their products as is.

Organic should have the same meaning for personal care products, pet food, cleaning products, etc as it does for food. Please keep up the great work with AB 2823 and don't bow to pressure from the corporations. Just like with food, other products should be required to have a minimum of 70% organic ingredients in order to use the label "organic."

Please register this as my support of you and this bill.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Alison Norman

Owner of the Immune Website & Lists
http://www.immuneweb.org/

Tikvah -- Organic and Natural Products
http://www.tikvah.com/
Handcrafted organic soaps & cosmetics, organic bedding, safety equipment

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