The federal Trade Commission recently released a consumer alert warning shoppers not to be deceived by unsubstantiated "green" claims from manufacturers of bamboo clothing and soft goods. In the alert, titled "Have You Been Bamboozled by Bamboo Fabrics?", the FTC exposes that bamboo fabric is actually rayon, a man-made fiber that can be derived from any plant cellulose via a chemically intensive process.
The chemicals used to create rayon material include carbon disulfide, lignin, and xanthates. These toxic chemicals are known to pollute the air and water used in production. The FTC goes on to state that even if the rayon is derived from bamboo fiber, the final chemical makeup is identical to rayon produced with any other plant cellulose. The FTC advises companies who claim that their products are created from bamboo that they should ensure they have evidence that the final product contains actual bamboo fiber.
Simultaneous to the release of their consumer alert, the FTC announced charges against 4 clothing companies that falsely advertised the benefits of their "bamboo fabric" clothing, including biodegradability and antimicrobial properties. Jonano, Mad Mod, Pure Bamboo, and Bamboosa were all identified as violators of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act.
“With the tremendous expansion of green claims in today’s marketplace, it is particularly important for the FTC to address deceptive environmental claims," said David Vladeck, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. “When companies sell products woven from man-made fibers, such as rayon, it is important that they accurately label and advertise those products."
Read the complete press release for more details about potentially deceptive bamboo fabric claims.
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Bamboo Textiles and the FTC
Recently the FTC developed new labeling guidelines for the organic and natural product market including bamboo textiles. Our company, Sami Designs and the brands we produce including Jonano along with several other companies at the forefront of the eco textile and eco fashion world who work in bamboo were asked to ensure that our labeling and marketing to conform with these new guidelines. Jonano immediately signed on, agreeing to conform to the new labeling guidelines, while other companies are going to fight some of the specific new FTC guidelines that do not jive with the extensive testing and data widely available and accepted by research and testing facilities, and universities worldwide.
Here are the facts:
2005 Sami Designs began researching textiles and wrote a 90 page white paper on antimicrobial textiles including bamboo, chitin, alginin, and hemp. Testing data is included from several sources showing antimicrobial factors for both bamboo and hemp and biodegradability of bamboo crops and hemp crops and chitin/rayon fabrics. These quantitative tests were performed by Japan Textile Inspection Association, SWICOFIL, China Industrial Testing Center, Bambrotex.
2006 the Jonano Brand began designing marketing and selling bamboo and hemp clothing. Characteristics such as grown without the use of pesticides, produced in a "closed loop system" that recirculates and captures agents used to convert the plant into fiber, "antimicrobial" were used in our marketing. All of these "claims" were due diligently researched and substantiated in writing by independent sources, textile manufacturing agencies and textile research organizations.
2007 bamboo organic certification criteria was released by the FDA. Jonano chose to select only certified organic bamboo for our production and could then use the label "certified organic bamboo."
Beginning in 2008 Jonano switched our labeling of the organic bamboo content on our clothing production from "organic bamboo" to "viscose from organic bamboo," after we received information that the government was ready to present labeling guidelines for this new eco textile that might require this switch shortly. Prior to this time no FDA guidelines for bamboo textiles were available and this fiber and fabric was labeled "bamboo" as had been accepted by the US Customs Department during importation and customs clearance for all Sami Designs products since we began.
In 2009 Sami Designs received a mailing from the FTC asking that a settlement agreement be reached that Sami Designs would conform to the new FTC regulations and standards. We signed on immediately and went over all of our marketing materials with a fine tooth comb in order to ensure that we were in compliance with these new labeling and marketing standards.
As for the claim that Sami Designs and our brands misrepresented our clothing products in our labels, no standardization was available until after we began using the term viscose from bamboo on our clothing. We are compliant with the new FTC labeling standards and never tried to mislead.
As new eco textiles continue to be developed and brought to market, the challenge of this task includes working with agencies in developing labeling and organic certification standards, obtaining new organic certifications for these crops, and continually working towards better and safer ways to produce textiles. All textile production requires processing of crops into fibers to create fabrics that can be comfortably worn and enjoyed for years to come. Our goal is and has always been to develop great eco textiles that make a positive impact on the environment, on the farmers and growers, on our manufacturing and cooperative production facilities and most importantly on the lives of the people who choose to select organic fashion for their wardrobe.
Our company makes available detailed information that describes the process of turning hardy organically grown bamboo into fiber that we select to create our viscose from organic bamboo blends sold under the Jonano ecoKashmere Collection. If anyone is interested in obtaining our testing data, simply write me through the contact us pages on the jonano.com website.
We are currently working on new eco textiles including corn blends, peace silks and more. As always, technologies and scientific advancements precede governmental standardization. The end result of developing new and improved eco textiles, we envision, will be a world where fewer pesticides and fertilizers are used on textile crops, safer methods for producing textile fibers and fabrics continue to be developed and organic clothing and eco textiles continue to become more available.
Although Jonano will not be participating in any fight with the FTC, we support the work of the companies who will be fighting to secure acceptance of the extensive research, testing and documentation and research that supports emerging new eco textiles so that we can all continue to expand the world of eco fashion together.
With Metta,
Bonnie
Bamboo
Hi, this is Mo from Bamboosa. I know that you mean well and are only trying to get information to your readers but you really should be careful using words like 'scam' unless you know the full story, which you don’t. There are two sides to every coin.
None of these four companies have done anything malicious or intentional regarding either their labeling or their claims.
The product in question is made from a fiber that is made from bamboo. The FTC does not ‘recognize’ bamboo fiber’ therefore it does not ‘exist’. Everyone in the business of selling products made from ‘viscose from bamboo’ or ‘rayon from bamboo’ termed the product bamboo fiber. Technically, that is incorrect. But, it is correct that the product is made from a fiber (viscose or rayon) that is made from bamboo. No one was pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes, regardless of what the FTC would have you believe.
Here is how this unfolded. The upstream suppliers, from the fiber producers, to the yarn spinners, to the fabric mills, all describe this product as ‘bamboo fiber’. And they all make pretty much the same claims about antimicrobial and biodegradable properties. Consequently, the downstream producers/marketers used the same terminology without knowing it might possibly be incorrect or lack substantiation. That does not make them unscrupulous and it does not make them guilty of greenwashing, even if the FTC says it does.
Fiber produced from bamboo via the viscose methodology is, in its final form, identifiable as to the source material being bamboo, unique in its cellular structure, and has properties that do not exist in other viscose products from other raw materials.
We sent the FTC tests results from our lab in Tennessee showing the antimicrobial properties of the fabric. Many other companies and academic institutions have documented the antimicrobial properties of fabric made from viscose fiber from bamboo. Obviously, the FTC wants more and they shall have it. Their statement that viscose fiber from bamboo has not data to back that up. At the most they should have said that it has not been fully substantiated.
One final note. We started Bamboosa five years ago to try to bring some textile jobs back to the little town we are in. By the end of this year we will employ 40 full time employees. People that otherwise might not have jobs.
We have shipped product to over 20,000 customers and they overwhelmingly like our products and services.
Bamboosa will continue to make US made, high quality apparel and will continue to support our employees, our customers, our vendors, and our community.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at mo@bamboosa.com.