Why should homemade soaps need the extensive regulation that only a big corporation can afford to provide?

Is anyone surprised that such legislation, proposed in April of 2015, was widely supported by Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Revlon, Estee Lauder, Unilever, and L’Oréal?

Why do we need regulation of a product that is so simple as homemade soaps, whose very reason for being is to avoid harsh, toxic ingredients? It seems to be very similar to the campaign the medical/pharmaceutical industry is backing to push for regulation — or an outright ban — on kratom, an herb that is sometime used in artisan soaps.

What is in the big-brand, commercial soaps that small makers are avoiding? Aren’t the big multi-nationals the ones that are using synthetic chemicals, a number of which have known negative effects on our hormones and our cells?

Are homemade soaps plagued by yet another case of the “pot calling the kettle black”?

Why is more regulation necessary? Why is there a need (in the regulators’ minds) for more complexity? If anywhere this was needed it is for the soaps that are mass-produced with synthetic chemical ingredients, added to perfect their look, smell, feel, lather, and — ultimately — salability. Craft soapmakers are rejecting these toxic ingredients and providing an alternative for those who trust the old-fashioned methods.

If Something Is Working Well, There Is No Need To Fix It

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) sponsored a bill (s. 1014) in April, 2015, to more closely regulate home-made soaps and it seems to have gone nowhere, for now. It drew quite a lot of attention as an example of government overreach. Many liberty-minded bloggers took potshots at it — and, though it had good bi-partisan sponsorship — it was quietly moved into the dustbin of history.

The very fact that it was attempted, should give us pause. Unnecessary regulation and burdensome taxes (to pay for the regulation) have been a major reason so many of America’s industrial jobs have been offshored.

Any efforts by lawmakers, with the backing of the large corporate campaign donors, to enforce more regulation and record-keeping on the cottage-industry soaps would appear to be an effort to drive them off the commercial playing field. This is not what we pay members of Congress — or any politician — to do. Trading one’s influence to campaign donors is not a legitimate function of government, though it is certainly too common these days. We need to tell our well-paid representatives that we see it and we’re tired of it — and we will remember it when it’s time to vote again.

Homemade soaps fill a market niche that is not currently served by mass-produced soaps.

Far worse things are put in commercial soaps and personal care products, such as triclosan. What’s up with that?

Other ingredients found in commercial soap products, but not in craft soap-makers’ products are effectively lowering the potency of men. Many ingredients in commercially marketed soaps and personal care products are known to be detrimental to our health and yet, they stay on the market. Is someone making a decision on how big your family shall be?

This seems to reflect an effort to make it difficult for the little business to compete. Big corporations urge agencies of government to add more required regulatory hurdles which drive small employers from the market.

We also see this happening with the medical industry urging public officials to ban the herb kratom, an inexpensive natural competitor . It is amusing that the highly-researched mass-produced pharmaceuticals produce inferior results — and actually kill hundreds of thousands of our citizens each year — when compared to kratom, which by itself has killed no-one.

At the end of the day, consumers must ask themselves if old-fashioned hand made soaps and lotions with herbs in them weren’t better — and, if all this regulation serves a genuine purpose for the consumers, after all.

Paul Kemp write frequently on natural health topics, reflecting decades of personal research.

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