Secret fragrance ingredients?

All cosmetics and personal care products in Australia must list all intentionally added ingredients on the product label, in English. Unless this is not possible due to the product’s size, shape or nature, or the product is a free sample or tester.⁵ This is enforced by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC).

The presence of fragrance ingredients in any cosmetic or personal care product must be shown by including the word ‘fragrance’, ‘fragrances’, ‘parfum’ or ‘parfums’, or by listing all the ingredients in the fragrance or fragrances. There is no legal requirement that each individual component of a fragrance be listed on the product label.

In consumer products, such as household cleaners and laundry products, there is no legal requirement to label any product ingredients, unless labelling for a particular ingredient is specified in the Poisons Standard. 

Far from being secretive, the International Fragrance Association (IFRA) has published a list 3000 fragrance ingredients that are used in consumer products around the world. This is called the Transparency List.⁶ All ingredients on this list have passed the IFRA safety standards.

IFRA Transparency List: The ‘perfumer’s palette’

'It represents a snapshot in time of the ingredients currently used by the fragrance industry, specifically those present in active fragrance mixtures available on the global market. This includes ingredients used in minimal quantities or only in specific countries or regions.'⁷

This is a great solution to providing consumers with the information they want whilst protecting details of specific fragrance formulae, which can take considerable time and financial investment to develop. 

The IFRA Safety Standards⁸, which underpin the Transparency List⁶, are a set of guidelines to ensure the safe use and quality of fragrance ingredients. They apply to fragrance ingredients used in all types of products, including fragrances (perfumes, colognes etc) and fragranced personal care and household products.

IFRA Standards can prohibit or restrict specific fragrance ingredients, or set purity requirements. The standards are based on scientific research and risk assessments. These are conducted by the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials (RIFM), the international scientific authority for fragrance ingredient safety, and are verified by independent experts. The assessment considers possible effects on the skin, including skin irritation and sensitisation, the effect of sunlight on the ingredient, and toxicity to body systems. RIFM has produced a video overview of fragrance safety, available here. 

The Expert Panel for Fragrance Safety is an independent and international group of dermatologists, pathologists, environmental scientists and toxicologists. It chooses its own members and reviews and must approve all RIFM assessments before they can be published.  

When warranted by the data, the Expert Panel instructs IFRA to issue a Standard either restricting or banning a fragrance material.⁸ To date, over 250 substances have been banned or restricted.

Most people can use fragranced products without any problems. But some people can be sensitive (or allergic) to certain fragrance ingredients, whether in food, skin care, the environment or elsewhere. If you have a reaction to a particular fragranced product, stop using it. You may wish to seek the advice of your GP or contact the product manufacturer.