Cover Girl/p&g Update

[celiac-mommy]

Regarding the post before, got a rediculous email back asking for a Dr note in order to tell me if there was gluten in 2 cover girl products and what their labeling practice is regarding gluten. I sent the following email and got one in return rather quickly:

Dear Procter and Gamble,

My name is Rachelle and I recently inquired about two Cover Girl products and their Gluten Free status. I received a very upsetting and disappointing email in return asking for a Doctor's note in order to release that information to me, your (former) customer. I am a busy mom of 2 children, both of who, along with my husband, have Celiac Disease which is, in general terms, a severe allergy to gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats). I am not out to steal your company's secret formula to one foundation and one tube of mascara. I wanted to be sure that if I applied these products to my face and my 3 year old son kissed my cheek, that he would not get violently ill. Shame on you for suggesting otherwise. Those people who are dealing with severe allergies on a daily basis need to be able to count on companies to give them the information needed live their lives safely. You, apparently, are not one of these companies. I will not be calling my children's busy doctor to ask him to take time out of his day to write a ridiculous letter to a highly mainstream company to find out for ME, if a product contains gluten. That is about the most ridiculous thing I've heard since we started this journey. I would have much more respect for your company if you even gave a generic response (like I've received so many times), "I'm sorry Mrs. Harvey, but we can't guarantee any of our products to be gluten free due to the ever changing formulas and outsourcing of the ingredients." This I can accept and make the decision from there. I've asked others in the Celiac community regarding your products and I have to say I was very disappointed to hear that this is how you treat all of your customers. Before today, I was a frequent consumer of the following:

Febreze

Secret

Charmin

Dreft

Pampers

Duracell

Olay

Cascade

Dawn

Always

Tampax

Pantene

Clairol

Vicks

Bounty

Swiffer

Tide and Gain

Crest

Cover girl

I will take your extensive product list with me from now on when I shop and I will not buy any of your products again. I hope you will someday soon take a good look at your consumer relations and make some significant changes. I will be passing all of this information on to my friends and family and ask that they do the same. There are many other companies out there who are more than happy to help us out.

Yours regrettably,

Rachelle H

Thanks for contacting us again Rachelle .

Our consumers mean a great deal to us, and we're sorry you were unhappy with the service you received when you contacted us. Our goal is to provide excellent service to all consumers who reach us, and we appreciate learning of your unusual experience. I'm sharing your report with our Consumer Relations Manager.

Regarding the gluten in our Beauty Care products, I can say that if wheat and/or wheat extract is directly added to the formula, it will be listed in the Ingredient Statement, on the label. If it is not listed on the Ingredient Statement, then no gluten is directly added to the product.If wheat or a wheat extract is added to the perfume it will not be listed separately on the label, but potentially present at a very low level. If you are concerned about using a product with a perfume, you could try fragrance free products,NOT Unscented, which may contain a masking fragrance.

Since Beauty Care products are used on the hair and skin, it would be very unlikely that a person with Celiac disease would have a reaction from trace amounts of gluten.

I hope that helps a bit more.

Alison

P&G Team

Well, it does help! See, now was that so difficult?!?!

[Lisa]

Thanks for the follow-up Rachelle.

This statement concerns me ".......if wheat and/or wheat extract is directly added to the formula, it will be listed in the Ingredient Statement, on the label. If it is not listed on the Ingredient Statement, then no gluten is directly added to the product", due to the fact that there is no definition of "gluten" and an only reference to wheat.

This uneducated statement does as well, "Since Beauty Care products are used on the hair and skin, it would be very unlikely that a person with Celiac disease would have a reaction from trace amounts of gluten." I can list many things on your product listing that can be ingested.

Well, good for you for taking the time to follow up and post for all of us. Progress is made one step at a time. P&G is a little more informed because of you.

[ohsotired]

Well, I'm glad you got a response.............but is anyone else put off by that last sentence?

Since Beauty Care products are used on the hair and skin, it would be very unlikely that a person with Celiac disease would have a reaction from trace amounts of gluten.

Aren't there lots of people here that would/could say otherwise?

Maybe I'm just cranky today........

[celiac-mommy]

I agree. I had more of an issue with the "need for a Dr. note" request. Now I can make an informed decision due to their lack of knowlege of Celiac disease

[ohsotired]

The need for a dr's note is just ridiculous. I can't think of anyone that would go to all that trouble to continue wearing a particular cosmetic.

There are too many other companies out there that are eager and willing to help their customers. So long P&G.

[Jestgar]

Well, I'm glad you got a response.............but is anyone else put off by that last sentence?

yeah. Sounded pretty condescending to me.

Not only is it not true for many people. she clearly stated she was protecting her toddler who likes to kiss her.

[home-based-mom]

It sounds like they are doing some fast and furious back-peddling and ruffled feather smoothing once they found out you were an informed customer and were publicizing their asinine policy. Unfortunately they might just be blowing smoke as it sounds like from their last statement that they don't really understand the needs of the gluten free customer.

It is certainly better than your first response, but I'm not totally convinced of the sincerity of it. Furthermore, it sounds like you still can't trust their products to be gluten free.

[celiac-mommy]

It is certainly better than your first response, but I'm not totally convinced of the sincerity of it. Furthermore, it sounds like you still can't trust their products to be gluten free.

I agree completely!

[JennyC]

How ridiculous! They still never answered your question, since they seemed to use gluten and wheat interchangeably and never even mentioned barley, rye or oats. I did really like your email response to them though!

[Mom23boys]

Since Beauty Care products are used on the hair and skin, it would be very unlikely that a person with Celiac disease would have a reaction from trace amounts of gluten.

doesn't that sound like, "ahhh...one little bite won't hurt..."?

[WhimsiKay]

If it's any consolation, this was a much more informed email than I got from Loreal when I asked them very specific questions about their lip gloss. ^^; Loreal basically told me to "read the ingredient list" -- nevermind the lip gloss had no ingredient list either on the tube or the website!

This was a much better answer the second time around, albeit an ignorant one. I give her credit for trying.

Way to really work it out, celiac-mommy!

[GFM]

I also got the "need a doctor's note" response when I called a few weeks ago regarding Pantene products. So, no more P&G products for me!

[Puddy]

Just thought I'd add my recent experience with P&G. When I was first diagnosed, I was using Pantene shampoo and called to make sure it was safe. They assured me it was. I had to buy a new bottle last week and figured I'd do a re-check with P&G since it had been a few months. The rep I spoke to said there was no wheat listed in the ingredients but during the conversation she used wheat and gluten interchangeably. I asked about barley, rye, oats and explained that they contained gluten also and she said that wasn't in her "information". So I sent an e-mail to the company suggesting that they list those ingredients also, with a quicky course in what Celiac Disease was and how appreciative their customers would be and here is their reponse.....

Thanks for contacting us again.

We know Celiac is a serious disease, so we want to give you clear information

regarding the use of our beauty care products. If wheat and/or gluten aren't

directly added to a product by us, these ingredients won't be listed on our

packages. Like many companies, we often purchase the scents for fragranced

products from outside suppliers, and the components of these substances are

proprietary information belonging to those companies. Therefore it's possible

that a very small amount (generally parts per million) of gluten may be present.

We sought advice from physicians; they told us it would be very unlikely a

person with Celiac disease would have a reaction from a trace amount of gluten

coming into contact with his skin or hair. This is because wheat, rye, barley

and/or gluten generally cause symptoms when they're ingested. Since our beauty

care products are designed to be used externally on the skin, their use

shouldn't be an issue for someone with this disease.

Since gluten sensitivity can vary among people, it would be best if you

consulted with your physician about the use of all types of consumable goods, if

you haven't already. You might even consider using one of our fragrance free

products that doesn't list gluten or wheat extracts on the label.

Thanks again for getting in touch with us. I hope this response has been

helpful to you. For more information about Celiac, you may want to check out

Open Original Shared Link and Open Original Shared Link

Guess I'll be returning that bottle of shampoo.

[celiac-mommy]

I know they all have to cover their ars's. Most of the mainstream products out there do outsource some of their ingredients, so most are not completely safe. There are a few exceptions, I know. It bugged me too when I specifically said that I worry when my toddler kisses my cheek--and they followed that up with although their products are most likey gluten-free-or pretty close They will be safe for celiacs due to the fact that they aren't "consumed" BUT my kid is still kissing my face-it's getting on his lips, then into his mouth, etc... I will stay away from P&G.

[MelissaKay]

WHY is noone mentioning that they are wrong!? PLAIN wrong in the fact that... putting gluten on your skin causes most celiacs (who have dermatitis herpetiformis) to break out in itchy blisters all over their face, neck, arms, legs etc??!! these people need to be more informed =[

[mirabella]

no more P&G for our family

[psawyer]

Thanks for contacting us again.

<<snip>>

For more information about Celiac, you may want to check out

Open Original Shared Link and Open Original Shared Link

Guess I'll be returning that bottle of shampoo.

Yeah, not the greatest answer, but look where they sent you for more info!