As demand rises, it’s time for marine ingredient standards

This content item was originally published on www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com, a William Reed online publication.

By Andrew McDougall and Michelle Yeomans

01-May-2013 - Last updated on 28-Sep-2021 at 11:28 GMT

Related tags Natural environment Biodiversity

The demand for marine ingredients in cosmetics has risen over the last few years and Organic Monitor’s Amarjit Sahota tells CosmeticsDesign-Europe.com that it is time to put standards in place to ensure sustainable sourcing.

Sahota gave a presentation at the in-cosmetics event in Paris on the issue, explaining that one of the key issues to be addressed is that industry is behind when it comes to third party standards and verification.

There has been increased interest in marine algae ingredients, both macro- and micro-; and whilst there are loads of standards and charters in place for natural and organic, there is nothing in place for marine ingredients.

“Sustainable sourcing is key when it comes to marine ingredients. If you do it unsustainably then it can affect the ecosystem,” says Sahota.

“We have to be careful when selecting marine ingredients as the environments are a lot more fragile and could raise sustainability issues.”