SC Johnson posts comprehensive list of ingredients for fragrances used in household products such as Windex, Pledge and Glade on company's website

Alison Gallant

RACINE, Wisconsin , January 26, 2012 (press release) – SC Johnson announced today the release of its Exclusive Fragrance Palette that was more than two years in the making. This fragrance palette provides a comprehensive list of the fragrance ingredients found in the company’s products and is accessible to consumers through www.whatsinsidescjohnson.com, the company’s relaunched ingredient disclosure website. The goal is to help families learn more about the ingredients that are in products they use in their homes every day, and to help consumers feel confident about the fragrances found in SC Johnson products like Windex®, Glade® and Pledge®.

“We want all of our ingredients to be transparent, so consumers can make their own, informed choices on what to purchase,” said Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. “We also want to earn the trust and confidence every day of the people that buy our products because we work hard on our ingredient choices and strive to continually improve our products.”

In March 2009, SC Johnson announced that it was going beyond an industry-wide “Consumer Product Ingredient Communication Initiative” in a number of ways, by committing to make ingredient information available in three ways (online, on pack and by phone); by committing to list all of the ingredients included in its products, including dyes, preservatives and fragrance ingredients; and by committing to make the information available in English, Spanish and French. Today, SC Johnson announced the completion of this commitment through the release of its Exclusive Fragrance Palette.

Our Exclusive Fragrance Palette

Fragrances are both creative and complicated. Many companies develop their fragrances from a list of more than 3,000 fragrance molecules published by the International Fragrance Association (IFRA), which shows fragrance ingredients used in consumer goods worldwide, all of which have passed IFRA’s standards.

SC Johnson takes the review of fragrance ingredients a step further. Fragrance ingredients are evaluated not only under the IFRA standards, but also under SC Johnson internal requirements. These internal requirements may look at the same criteria as IFRA, such as carcinogenicity, mutagenicity or reproductive toxicity, but the SC Johnson standard may take a stricter or different view of an ingredient. In some instances, additional factors are considered such as consumer confidence with ingredients or other scientific viewpoints. As an example, in early 2009, SC Johnson committed to removing the phthalate DEP from its fragrances in response to consumer concerns, even though DEP has been extensively researched and has been deemed safe by various scientific bodies. This was the only phthalate used in its fragrances and the company is meeting its commitment to remove it. The end result is SC Johnson’s Exclusive Fragrance Palette, which is smaller and more exclusive than the IFRA list.

Ingredient Website Offers Better Resources

As part of the release of the palette, SC Johnson is also introducing an enhanced website, designed to provide families with the product and ingredient information they are looking for, including features such as a fragrance education section, comprehensive product definitions, FAQs, links to other resource websites and more.

The ingredient website will offer additional resources for families looking to learn more about what’s in the products they use in their homes. Enhanced product definitions will describe ingredients and the role they play in products. FAQs offer easy to understand answers to the most commonly asked questions and in keeping with the company’s commitment to transparency, the website offers links to alternate sites containing ingredient information, educational materials and more.

Enhanced Labels

Beginning in 2012, SC Johnson will start rolling out product labels that list ingredients using their International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients names (INCI), a naming system used by the personal care products industry that is recognizable and familiar to many consumers. The move will be completed over several years.

A History of Doing What’s Right

SC Johnson’s ingredient leadership extends the company’s long history of doing what’s right for people and the planet. In 2001, SC Johnson internally developed its ingredient selection process called its Greenlist™ process. SC Johnson’s Greenlist™ process classifies raw materials according to their impact on the environment and human health. The company’s goal with the Greenlist™ process is to increase year-on-year the percentage of ingredients used in its products that are rated “Better” or “Best” by the Greenlist™ process. In 2001, the total “Better” or “Best” ingredients by weight of raw materials used in the company’s products was 18 percent. In 2010, this reached 51 percent. SC Johnson’s Greenlist™ process is patented by the company and the company received the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge award in 2006 for its Greenlist™ process.

About SC Johnson

SC Johnson is a family-owned and managed business dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care and pest control. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE®, KIWI®, OFF!®, PLEDGE®, RAID®, SCRUBBING BUBBLES®, SHOUT®, WINDEX® and ZIPLOC® in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN®, TANA®, BAMA®, BAYGON®, BRISE®, KABIKILLER®, KLEAR®, MR. MUSCLE® and RIDSECT®. The 126-year-old company, that generates $9 billion in sales, employs nearly 13,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. www.scjohnson.com

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.