Thursday, April 19, 2012

False Advertising; What's in a name?

This is one of RainOnTheLand suppliers and I can say with honesty the same…You don’t need to worry with my products as I maintain a transparency “clara como el agua”, but  yes please do be aware that it is a common practice, and I like to add, beyond the cosmetic  world,  to our food industry and more! The best practice… is to make your own products as you make your own food! God Bless

This is the article…


By EssentialU
Posted on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 5:12PM

A few weeks ago I was getting my petrol pumped by a rather bored and talkative attendant. We somehow got onto the subject of superstition. I mentioned how I found it so odd that the USA was so superstitious that we had no floor #13 choice in elevators. He was alarmed. He couldn’t believe our buildings didn’t have a 13th floor.  “Well of course they do.” I said,” they’re just not labeled as a 13th floor in the elevator”. We then had a spritely discussion on how a 13th floor exists, yet it’s not known as a 13th floor, but instead becomes known as the 14th floor. This appeared to be quite a conundrum for the young man, he seemed disillusioned. It was a strange reaction. It got me to thinking, how often do we call something by a name which it is not?
In the natural products industry we come across this constantly. “Geraniums” are almost never geraniums, but rather Pelargoniums. “Cedars” are far more likely to be Arborvitaes or Junipers than true Cedars. “Chamomiles” are more often Daisies.  Long ago someone looked at the Sunflower known to botanists as Matricaria recutita, decided it looked like a Chamomile, and we have been referring to it  incorrectly ever since.  Once a word has been chronically misused for long enough it becomes correct. I remember when “prioritize” finally made its way into the dictionary and my disgusted English teacher had to accept that the word could legitimately be used in a paper.  She retired the following year.  If enough people repeatedly refer to a fruit as a “nut”, it eventually becomes a nut. At least it does in casual conversation if not in scientific classification. This can get a little confusing, and I’m sure botanists find it immensely aggravating, but it is no big deal. It is a little odd that the worst nut allergy is caused by a peanut, which is a legume, not a nut.
Not long ago I got a sample of Sodium Citrate which was nothing like what we expected to receive. That’s because it was Sodium citrate with about five other ingredients thrown in there as well. It was all listed in the spec sheet. There was no attempt at deception, but the initial advertising wasn’t quite as clear as it could have been. A buyer has to be very careful they get exactly what is needed, nothing more and nothing less.  Unfortunately, deception does come in to play a little too often in this industry. Product descriptions are incomplete or plain misrepresented. Most often I find this manifests in the form of flow agents, preservatives and emulsifiers being left out of ingredient decks. You don’t need to worry about that happening at Essential Wholesale as we maintain maximum transparency, but please do be aware that it is common practice in the cosmetic personal care world. Buyer beware!