Many people have learned not to trust the FDA when it comes to the final word about safety. Amazingly, the department that is supposed to protect our food and drugs has been proven to be less than honest in the past, and approve drugs it shouldn’t have. The Environmental Working Group has put together a video to reveal yet another ethical issue with the FDA, namely cosmetics and fragrances. According to the video, although the FDA requires companies to list their ingredients, fragrances are an exception considering them to be “trade secrets” and protected from this law. This means the word ‘fragrance’ on your ingredient labels gives the manufacturers a major loophole to exploit. Because this word means trade secrets, these manufacturers can put known carcinogens and other chemicals in their products under the mask of ‘fragrance’ and consumers are none the wiser.

So what if they have some other chemicals that could make the product work better? Well, these chemicals, such as phthalates, have been shown to accumulate in our bodies and have been linked to cancer and asthma, and these fragrance formulas have been listed as one of the top 5 known allergens.

Learn more about this and other cosmetic industry secrets at Skin Deep, created by EWG. Sign their petition, learn more about the cosmetics industry and check out their updates and shopping tips.

Also send in any other questions about cosmetics to EWG.