Honest Company Inc., where actress Jessica Alba is the co-founder, recently came under attack over allegations of harsh chemical ingredients usage the company claimed it never used. The latest report shows that the company's detergent indeed contained sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), a chemical that the company blamed for causing skin irritation.
The two lab tests initiated by The Wall Street Journal and conducted by Impact Analytical and Chemir, a division of EAG Inc., show a significant amount of SLS in Honest's detergent. Honest's liquid laundry detergent is one of the company's first and most popular products. SLS itself is a common chemical ingredient found in most toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, hand wash, and even dish soap.
The company has reacted to the allegations with a statement, as reported by The Huffington Post, "The Wall Street Journal has been reckless in the preparation of this article, refused multiple requests to share data on which they apparently relied and has substituted junk science for credible journalism. We stand behind our laundry detergent and take very seriously the responsibility we have to our consumers to create safe and effective products."
As a response, the company also provided The Wall Street Journal with a certificate from its manufacturer Earth Friendly Products, showing that the product contains to SLS. The manufacturer's chemical supplier, Trichromatic West Inc., said that the certificate wasn't based on any testing. It further said that it did not need to test for SLS because none of the chemicals were used in the manufacturing process. However, scientists also told the Wall Street Journal that SCS actually contains a mixture of various cleaning agents, including SLS.
Honest Company has been challenging other companies with its products, guaranteed to not contain such harsh chemicals found in many other mainstream products. SLS is one of many chemicals Honest claims to avoid, and substitute it with sodium coco sulfate (SCS) derived from coconuts as a safer alternative. Jessica Alba herself said that she started the company after she had an allergic reaction to a popular brand of laundry detergent that contains SLS.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Honest Company has recently changed the claim in its website from "Honestly free of" to "Honestly made without" the harsh chemicals. The company, which has raised $222 million in private funding, was also previously criticized for its sunscreen which was called ineffective at preventing sunburn.
Jessica Alba's Honest Company strongly denied that their products, especially the laundry detergent, were made using the chemicals SLS, which the company claimed to never use. Two test labs commissioned by The Wall Street Journal confirmed that the detergent product indeed contains a significant amount of SLS. The company has been promoting products with safer ingredients without harsh chemicals.
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