Fined for skincare labelling

ADULT and baby skincare company GAIA Skin Naturals has been fined for allegedly labelling products containing synthetic chemical preservatives as organic.

Dreamz Pty Ltd, which trades as GAIA, has paid $37,800 in penalties after the consumer watchdog issued infringement notices alleging GAIA’s claims may have misled consumers into thinking three of its products were free from synthetic chemicals when they were not.

While certification is not legally required for a product supplied in Australia to be described as organic, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said businesses must be able to substantiate claims that a product is organic.

The three products that prompted the ACCC’s infringement notices were GAIA’s Natural Baby Bath & Body Wash, Baby Shampoo and Baby Moisturiser. sure the cells replicate the animal cells correctly, the agency says.

The FDA says animal cells can currently be produced from “starter cells” in machines where the cells are cultured to grow.

Now companies are working to commercialise the process with techniques that allow complex tissues to form, the FDA says, similar to strategies being explored for human organ replacement.

Cultures provide nutrients, vitamins and minerals to help cells grow, but the ones currently on the market are too costly for commercially viable products, according to the Good Food Institute, which advocates and lobbies for meat alternatives.

Companies are working on lower-cost alternatives, says Matt

Ball, a spokesman for the Institute. Certain types of meat are also more structurally complicated.

“None of these companies are at the point where they’re producing marbled cuts of meat that have intricate three-dimensional structures,” Mr Ball says.

The advocacy group says establishing a supply chain will be critical for commercialisation.