April 28, 2016
Truth and Transparency in Labeling of Serenity Acres' Products
Truth and Transparency in Labeling of Serenity Acres Products
Serenity Acres’ products, be it the goat’s milk soap or the goat’s milk body cream, consist of simple, high quality ingredients, all listed on the label, so that anyone using our products can make an informed decision about whether to use the product or not. Listing ingredients should be simple and with most products it is. With soap it is not so simple. Here’s why:
All natural soaps are made with lye. You cannot make a natural soap without lye. It’s the basic reaction of lye in a liquid medium (such as water or milk or beer) with a fat such as lard or any vegetable oil that makes soap. Here’s the trick: once the lye has reacted with the fat and the amount of lye and fat/oils are equal, there is no lye left in the soap and there is no oil left in the soap, because: One lye molecule + one fat molecule = one soap molecule + glycerin.
So, all amounts being equal, these ingredients are what goes into an unscented soap:
Lye + liquid + fat/oil.
Then the molecules react with each other and grab onto each other while generating heat, which takes about 48 hours. This is called saponification.
After 48 hours, these ingredients are what is in the soap after saponification, all amounts being equal:
Soap + Glycerin.
So, which ingredients would you list on the label: what went in or what came out?
There are two camps:
One camp lists lye and the individual fats/oils as ingredients, because that is what went in.
The other camps lists: saponified fat/oils as ingredients and makes no mention of lye, because that is what comes out.
A store in the Panhandle recently decided not to bring in our soap and gave me the following reason: “our manager checks all the ingredients in the products we are offered to carry. Your soap has lye in it and we don’t carry such things. “
So maybe if I had listed “saponified olive oil etc” it would have been ok and they would have accepted it?
To me though, that is like listing “lemon pound cake” as the ingredient which is what came out, instead of flour, milk, eggs, etc., which are the ingredients that went in to make the cake. To me that is not truth and transparency in labeling. To me that is deceptive labeling, even if it’s not incorrect and not illegal.
While I am disappointed in the rejection, I stand by my decision to list the lye as an ingredient in our soap along with the fresh goat’s milk, the distilled water, the Grade A Olive Oil, organic palm oil and coconut oil, and then explain the process. Truth and Transparency rule. So does honesty.
Awake Awesome! Educate Yourself! Make a Difference!
Julia
www.serenitygoats.com
Serenity Acres’ products, be it the goat’s milk soap or the goat’s milk body cream, consist of simple, high quality ingredients, all listed on the label, so that anyone using our products can make an informed decision about whether to use the product or not. Listing ingredients should be simple and with most products it is. With soap it is not so simple. Here’s why:
All natural soaps are made with lye. You cannot make a natural soap without lye. It’s the basic reaction of lye in a liquid medium (such as water or milk or beer) with a fat such as lard or any vegetable oil that makes soap. Here’s the trick: once the lye has reacted with the fat and the amount of lye and fat/oils are equal, there is no lye left in the soap and there is no oil left in the soap, because: One lye molecule + one fat molecule = one soap molecule + glycerin.
So, all amounts being equal, these ingredients are what goes into an unscented soap:
Lye + liquid + fat/oil.
Then the molecules react with each other and grab onto each other while generating heat, which takes about 48 hours. This is called saponification.
After 48 hours, these ingredients are what is in the soap after saponification, all amounts being equal:
Soap + Glycerin.
So, which ingredients would you list on the label: what went in or what came out?
There are two camps:
One camp lists lye and the individual fats/oils as ingredients, because that is what went in.
The other camps lists: saponified fat/oils as ingredients and makes no mention of lye, because that is what comes out.
A store in the Panhandle recently decided not to bring in our soap and gave me the following reason: “our manager checks all the ingredients in the products we are offered to carry. Your soap has lye in it and we don’t carry such things. “
So maybe if I had listed “saponified olive oil etc” it would have been ok and they would have accepted it?
To me though, that is like listing “lemon pound cake” as the ingredient which is what came out, instead of flour, milk, eggs, etc., which are the ingredients that went in to make the cake. To me that is not truth and transparency in labeling. To me that is deceptive labeling, even if it’s not incorrect and not illegal.
While I am disappointed in the rejection, I stand by my decision to list the lye as an ingredient in our soap along with the fresh goat’s milk, the distilled water, the Grade A Olive Oil, organic palm oil and coconut oil, and then explain the process. Truth and Transparency rule. So does honesty.
Awake Awesome! Educate Yourself! Make a Difference!
Julia
www.serenitygoats.com
