Food and Drug Administration
The following information is intended to respond to some questions people commonly ask FDA about “organic” cosmetics.
Does FDA have a definition for the term “organic”?
No. FDA regulates cosmetics under the authority of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act1 (FD&C Act) and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act2 (FPLA). The term “organic” is not defined in either of these laws or the regulations that FDA enforces under their authority.
How is the term “organic” regulated?
The Agricultural Marketing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversees the National Organic Program3 (NOP). The NOP regulations4 include a definition of “organic” and provide for certification that agricultural ingredients have been produced under conditions that would meet the definition. They also include labeling standards based on the percentage of organic ingredients in a product, including cosmetic products.
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