Reckitt Benckiser discloses ingredient info in U.S. transparency program

As part of its transparency program, the Clearasil and Veet brands owner has enabled American consumers to see product ingredients for more than three years; with fragrance allergens due to be listed starting in early 2014, and triclosan to be removed from all U.S. products by the end of next year.

"Increased transparency and disclosure are key components of RB's better business strategy and we believe this is the right thing to do for U.S. consumers,"​ explains Alexander Lacik, President, North America.

"For over 10 years, we've actively reviewed our ingredient portfolio and have taken a proactive stance on disclosure, reduction and removal of chemicals of emerging concern."​

Increased ingredient transparency​

The Reckitt U.S. chief believes that the inclusion of fragrance allergens addresses the need for consumers with fragrance allergies to know what's in the products they use.

This will be done by making information available on the company’s U.S. ingredient disclosure website; adding to the information that can be found on every product label and brand website, as well as all of Reckitt’s Facebook pages.

Consumers can visit the U.S. ingredient disclosure website​  where the company declares its ingredients and their purpose in products.

The website includes all of its Health, Hygiene and Home products and customers can also locate and download Material Safety Data Sheets for each product, which contains important safety information for bulk warehousing and transportation.

In addition, the website contains information on RB's environmental standards and policies, a section specifically on fragrances and more details about its industry-leading ingredient disclosure program.

Removal​

On top of the ingredient disclosure, the consumer products firm has also vowed to remove triclosan from all of its U.S. products; with only one currently remaining in production.

The company says this part of its normal practice to regularly review its list of allowable ingredients based on new information made available as scientific knowledge progresses.

This saw Reckitt remove the preservative formaldehyde and nonyl phenol ethoxylate surfactants from all products in 2006 and formaldehyde-donating preservatives in 2009.