When Going Green, Read Label First

Going green? Then chances are you will want to check out your local natural food store for the best products, but, what if you were to find out some health food stores have products that contain harmful ingredients?

I found some shocking information while trying to select shampoos to try for my best of green shampoo review. Two local health food stores where scanned for the shampoos to use for the review, but I found much more interesting information. Naturally, I wanted to share this stuff with my favorite readers, so here we go.

It was hard to believe 90 percent of the shampoos in these two health food stores contained sodium lauryl sulfate, several products listed PEG’s in the ingredients, and two brands contained parabens. These are all chemicals to avoid in shampoo, especially parabens. 

Most people assume their products are safe if they buy them at a health store or the bottle claims the product to be natural, green or organic. I think we can all remember the saying about what happens when you assume?

The safest way to shop is to know what ingredients to avoid and actually read the labels on the products you think about buying. While sodium lauryl sulfate has not been proven to cause cancer, it can cause itching, irritation and allergic reactions in many people. This is unfortunate if you decide to shop at a natural food store due to severe skin allergies and sensitivity. One bottle actually said no “sodium lauryl sulfate," but the label on the back showed lauryl sulfate, which is essentially the same chemical with a different name.

It’s important to remember the FDA does not tightly regulate cosmetics and personal care products. This means a personal care product can have harmful chemicals and its advertising can be misleading, regardless of where you buy your products. 

Personally, it seems much more violating to find chemicals at a health food store, as many tend to blindly trust these stores. Just because a store is clean or the staff seems ecofriendly does not mean the products are exactly what you need.

So, tread carefully when it comes to choosing personal care products for yourself and your family. Many of us have been the victim of misleading advertising by choosing a product based on green, all-natural or organic labeling. The only surefire way to know a product does not contain certain chemicals is by checking out the ingredient list. Remember, never judge a shampoo by its cover; always read the back to find out what’s really inside. Stay tuned for the up and coming Green Shampoo Review!

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