One of the many reasons soap is only a hobby for me!

[newbie]

I thought this was very interesting. I know many people on here talk about wanting to sell (and of course we have people who are already sellers), so it's worth a read about this seller's experience when the FDA turned up on her doorstep. She was not reported. The FDA came across her website and decided to pay a visit.

http://www.soapqueen.com/business/a...utm_content=26093361&utm_campaign=Feb_24_2015

 

[Seawolfe]

I just read that. Really interesting, and oddly comforting to me - that they were really helping her get in compliance.

 

[lenarenee]

I just read that. Really interesting, and oddly comforting to me - that they were really helping her get in compliance.

That's my feeling to. Not overbearing, but educational. I'd be happy to come into compliance when met with that attitude. (speaking as someone who doesn't sell)

Personally, I'd like the small businesses to feel the need to concentrate on gmp. I've seen too many videos that have people pulling hair out of their soap batter and that makes me think they'd do the same for a lotion or body butter. I wouldn't buy a product like that - just like I'd return a food item with someone's hair in it.

I'm troubled by buying product that was made/stored in a shed or garage where its possible a rodent or cockroach could have made contact with it.

I don't give out my soaps if they've been manhandled or sniffed to death. They're kept as clean and unhandled as possible. Our own personal soap however, I'm not as stringent about as we're already sharing germs as it is.

 

[IrishLass]

Good article. Thanks for sharing it. That's one of the reasons my soap remains hobby-status for me, too.


IrishLass

 

[snappyllama]

I totally agree. It is a good thing when regulatory agencies enforce and assist businesses with compliance. If I ever decided to sell, it wouldn't bother me at all wherever I was manufacturing was inspected.

I wouldn't have a problem with products being made within a shed or garage so long as it is secure and clean. Heck, I've seen folks' homes much less clean than my garage (okay - it's pretty bad right now, but most of the time it doesn't look like a debris explosion just happened). I am totally repulsed when I see terrible manufacturing processes on videos. Casual: "Oh well, I think that was a spider" should never be heard when mixing batter. Don't get me started on furry animals wandering around on counter tops and sick kids reaching up and coughing on soap. "He's had a cold for a couple of weeks" <hack snort sniffle>. Ick.

 

[newbie]

I agree that the regulator seemed very invested in helping the person come into compliance, which is a great attitude. We think of regulatory bodies as always being adversarial but that's not true. People talk on here about all that's necessary to sell- labeling properly, tracking batches and raw materials etc... but something about the article made me realize, more than I had before, how much goes into being a proper seller. My hat is off to all your vendors out there! When I was reading it, I was thinking of all the people who say they want to start selling after their 5th batch. Do they realize what they are getting into?

I have never seen a video where someone says, "Oops! Poor bug." while they SB'er away! Who'd post that?? Well, yes, someone would, somewhere.

 

[lionprincess00]

Saw that this morning. Yup, reason enough for me. My kitchen is sooo not compliant with the regs they put on her

 

[Steve85569]

I just read the article on the link provided. Thank you for posting this for all!
As I was reading through the article was reminded of my old job. We had yearly Federal compliance inspections and every piece of equipment that we used had to be measured and/or calibrated for accuracy and precision. I had to maintain log books for every item that entered and left the work area along with copies of reports. Training manuals and employee progress reports. UGH!!!

I do still have some level of CDO (OCD) left over and track recipe's reflexively and store things in cabinets. I also label each bar of soap so I can keep track of the recipe ( code numbers) and dates of the batch so I can compare cure effects. After all I did spend a lot of years in the other work space. Not all habits are bad I guess.

Soaping is a very enjoyable hobby. I do not want to ruin the time I spend doing this by making it "work". I'll deal with the CDO in it's proper time.:mrgreen:

 

[galaxyMLP]

Yep, I saw that. It's actually one of the reasons I'm kind of glad that Florida has so stringent and prohibitive laws on cosmetics makers. As a simple soap maker, I don't need to abide by all of that.

However, I do store all of my supplies in cabinets or a closet. My soaps are also always kept indoors and my apartment is always temperature controlled. My soaps are never stored on the bottom shelf of the rack and I track my ingredient usage. I try to abide by as many good practices as I can. I don't wear a hairnet but I always have my hair up. I should invest in a hair net and a mask though. It would be better. Im actually intending on doing GMP as soon as I move into my new space but I've started implementing it now.

Edit: It really irks me when I hear a soaper talking about being sick but soaping anyway. I know lye kills bacteria and such but... Come on!

 

[shunt2011]

Great article. I had seen it last week somewhere. GMP is important if you are running a business. I too keep everything up off the floor and store them properly. And it's nice to know that if there is a problem they will help you to be compliant.

 

[Bamagirl]

I read this article, then I also read the comments. Did anyone else read the comment about a person being gifted a bar of soap and winding up in the ER? It was about 20 posts down?

 

[newbie]

I see that post. It says that some ingredient in the soap changed to something else over time and caused the ER visit. I don't know what to make of that.

 

[galaxyMLP]

In another comment she says the soap turned out to be lye heavy.

 

[lenarenee]

And that she was allergic to lye in high doses.

 

[kchaystack]

And that she was allergic to lye in high doses.

Aren't we all? Hahaha

 

[Soapmaker145]

Some of the smartest, kindest and most generous people work for the FDA. They can also be really scary when willfully ignored. The FDA is a relatively small organization given the monumental task that they are asked to do. There are too many loopholes in the way the laws are written that introduce risks to consumers particularly when it comes to "natural" compounds. The FDA can't regulate them until they cause harm as opposed to pharmaceuticals that can't be offered to the public until their safety and efficacy have been thoroughly investigated. I've been expecting some new laws in light of the explosion in "naturally" derived compounds that are being added untested to consumer products, mostly by crafters and mostly for label appeal.

It looks like part of the FDA's strategy will be to enforce all applicable regulations on crafters. This is going to restrict their ability to add random compounds before they are thoroughly tested on animals and shown to do no harm. Testing is a very expensive process. I get annoyed by companies claiming that they don't test on animals. All that means is somebody else did the testing for the compounds that they are using. The FDA is effectively killing the market for untested compounds the only way available to them under current laws. At the same time, they are ensuring that was is offered for sale is made to specified standards.

The story with the lye heavy soap was good for a laugh. What did the guy do, eat it? Not very plausible. Allergic to lye in high doses? Really? Does she know what lye is?