The word "purported"....

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CTAnton

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Well I visited 2 of the retail shops that carry my soaps. here's a new soap vendor in one of them, claiming all the beneficial properties of the variety of variously formulated soaps he makes. I am a product of this forum and proud of it. I understand unless this guy has his soaps registered with i believe the Food and Drug Administration what he's doing is not legal.
So I'm flirting with working within the gray area of the world and the word purported came to mind. Yes, I'm sure there's others. I make a jewelweed soap that I don't call a poison ivy soap. I'm sure that doesn't help sales but there you have it. I'm thinking about something like this, using the jewelweed soap as an example:
Jewelweed extracts have a long history of being an effective treatment...
People swear by jewelweed in the treatment of poison ivy...
Jewelweed is purported to have an effect on the inflammation caused by poison ivy...
Am I making a claim? i don't know...I'm just stating some facts. I put this out to the collective minds of all of you. I just feel like the lone soaper in this area that follows the rules...yes, I'm ticked off but I'm sure theres a dozen of you out there that feel the same....
 
The regulations seem pretty clear to me. If you claim, even in an indirect manner, anything beyond "it will get you clean" and exfoliating action about your soap or any of the ingredients in them, it's either a cosmetic or a drug or maybe both, and subject to all the regulations relating to those. Statements regarding the purported benefits and properties of any ingredient definitely fall under the aegis of 'making claims'.
 
i guess there's no leveling of the selling field. Thank you both for your input. Frustrated here but I'd prefer to stay within the framework of the law....I doubt I ever will see the soap police take care of this but I can take the higher, and legal road...
 
Report the soap maker to the FDA. Send them a bar with the claims and let them know that it didn't work.

That might seem harsh or petty, but I doubt that the FDA has people going in to every shop looking at artisan soap labels. Things can only happen if it is reported.

Another option is letting the store owner know that they are selling products which break the law
 
It's far from being JUST on the label. There's a sign on top of his display stating what soaps would be good for your skin condition and why using a coded system. It's a 10 minute read. I'll have to check next time I'm there to see what information exists on the individual bars.I'm thinking that all bases are covered and there's plenty of claims on each bar.
I think I'll be sharing the legalities with the shopkeeper. I'm not surprised I didn't when I was there. I get so shocked at people's flagrant abuses of the soap laws and really leaves me speechless. Go on etsy and you can see for yourself. I'm anal about labeling my soap ingredients to avoid possible allergy issues. I've taken to writing "for external use only" as well after my easter peeps experience. I'm half tempted to write 'may contain tree nut oils" as I see on a lot of food ingredient lists in this country.
 

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