"[T]oday, there is an ongoing debate about how to find the right balance between keeping fragrance formulas proprietary and giving people who use them the assurance that they are safe," notes Johnson & Johnson (Skillman, New Jersey) in its fragrance position statement. "We believe there are ways to do both, and we are committed to working with regulators, officials, and other stakeholders to find solutions."
The statement came as the company launched its consumer transparency site and pledged to phase out the use of animal-derived ingredients, nitromusks and polycyclic musks, tagetes rose crystal, diacetyl, and DEP (already eliminated in our baby care products), with a priority placed on their elimination from baby care products.
The move is similar to an approach previously announced by SC Johnson.
"We go beyond IFRA standards by restricting or eliminating ingredients where there are legitimate emerging questions, even though the science is far from settled," Johnson & Johnson stated.
“There’s a public discussion underway about the ingredients in beauty care products, and we think it’s important to be part of that,” said Susan Nettesheim, vice president of product stewardship and toxicology for Johnson & Johnson. “Consumers today expect more information and greater transparency than ever before and we’re always listening to the people who use our products. On this site, we’ll do our best to explain how we make the choices we make, and to show how our plans incorporate consumers’ feedback. We want all consumers to see for themselves how and why every one of our products can be used with peace of mind.”
The site discusses ingredient selection and evaluation and outlines its safety assurance processes.
"The site will evolve and be updated to incorporate consumer feedback, the latest science, new regulations and new information about our policies," the company announced.