The secret chemicals in perfum are about to be unbottled.
The Guardian
October 15, 2014
Amy Westervelt
SC Johnson will be the first large company to disclose all fragrance ingredients in products. Could this be the end of trade-secret protection for the fragrance industry?
The term “fragrance” has, for decades, hidden all manner of ingredients: somewhere between 10 to 50 chemicals, in most products, which don’t have to be disclosed on labels because they are considered trade secrets under the US Fair Packaging and Labeling Act.
Some of those ingredients might not remain secrets for much longer. Consumer packaged goods company SC Johnson last week became the first multinational to announce its intention to disclose all fragrance ingredients in its products. The news comes after other companies – most recently Clorox – have announced steps to disclose fragrance allergens in their products. But this represents the first attempt to disclose all fragrance ingredients on a product-by-product basis.
