Jessica Alba, actress and co-founder of Honest Company, denies reports that the detergent produced by her company contains chemical that causes skin irritation.
Some products of Honest Company are challenging other items from big companies such as Clorox and Procter & Gamble. Honest Company guarantees that its offerings do not contain harsh chemicals that are found in several mainstream products. The company also suggests that consumers should avoid sodium lauryl sulfate, or SLS, which is a cleaning agent and found in many household items such as Tide detergent and Colgate toothpaste.
Honest Company suggests that SLS can cause skin irritation and Alba's company claims that they do not use SLS in any of their products. The company also labels their products as "Honestly free of" and the first item in the list is SLS.
The Wall Street Journal commissioned two independent labs for testing if Honest Company's liquid laundry detergent contains SLS or not.
"Our findings support that there is a significant amount of sodium lauryl sulfate [in Honest's detergent]," says Barbara Pavan, a chemist at one of the labs.
The lab also claims that the level of SLS found in Honest Company's detergent was the same as that found in Tide detergent.
Alba disputes the test results and expressed her disappointment over The Wall Street Journal's claim.
"I am extremely disappointed by the recent Wall Street Journal article full of misrepresentations about The Honest Company," says Alba in a blog. "We created our Honestly Free Guarantee so our customers can rest easy knowing our products are made without health-compromising chemicals or compounds."
Alba confirmed that the company uses Sodium Coco Sulfate (SCS) in its detergent as it is gentler as well as less irritating in comparison to the chemicals used in other detergents. Honest Company also highlighted that it has received assurance from suppliers and manufacturing partners that the company's detergent does not contain SLS.
Honest Company is based in Los Angeles and it sells products online and from discount retailers like Target, grocery chain Whole Foods and some other major stores across the U.S.
On Friday, Target said that it had no plans of removing the detergent from its store shelves. However, Whole Foods Market suggests that it is working with Alba's company to understand the test results revealed by The Wall Street Journal.
The latest SLS issue in Honest Company's product is a result of a lawsuit filed in February, which accused the company of fraudulently labeling dozens of its products chemical free, as natural or plant-based.
