RACINE, Wis., January 8, 2019 – Today, SC Johnson is fulfilling a worldwide commitment made nearly 10 years ago by expanding its industry-leading global ingredient transparency program to Latin America and delivering transparency to consumers everywhere around the world who use its products.
SC Johnson has led the industry toward greater transparency and continues to disclose beyond industry standards. The company has also led the charge with governmental bodies for positive reform of chemical management and disclosure. When the company first announced its ingredient transparency plan, regulations requiring ingredient disclosure did not exist.
“Ten years ago, SC Johnson made a commitment to global ingredient transparency. Today, by expanding our program to Latin America, we have fulfilled that commitment,” said Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO of SC Johnson. “By keeping our promise, we have brought ingredient transparency around the world, and in the process, we have helped motivate the industry toward greater transparency.”
For example, SC Johnson began disclosing product-specific fragrance ingredients in 2015. Two years later, in 2017, Procter and Gamble, Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser announced plans to increase their own products’ fragrance disclosure.
SC Johnson’s pioneering approach began in earnest in 2009, with ingredient disclosure programs launched in the U.S. and Canada. In 2016, the company’s European ingredient transparency program was unveiled at WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com. One year later, the Asia Pacific market was added to SC Johnson’s global ingredient transparency program. Latin America is the final piece of the puzzle.
“While some companies have been slow to incorporate ingredient transparency with their products, SC Johnson has always led from the front,” said Ken Cook, President of Environmental Working Group. “I applaud Fisk Johnson for his steadfast commitment to consumers as a global leader in ingredient transparency.”
SC Johnson’s leadership in ingredient transparency has paved the way for others in the industry to follow its lead. In 2015, SmartLabel® was unveiled as a digital tool to access a greater range of product ingredients, five years after SC Johnson began disclosing ingredients. SC Johnson has also led the way in advocating for product transparency at the federal and state levels, including strong support for strengthening the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act and advocating for California’s Cleaning Product Right to Know Act, which was signed into law in 2017 and made California the first state to require ingredient disclosure on product labels and online for cleaning products. SC Johnson has set a bold example in ingredient transparency that has led to meaningful change.
“The demands for transparency are not going to decrease and there are a lot of enabling technologies like blockchain that will make traceability and transparency much easier for everybody and more affordable,” said Joel Makower, Chairman and Executive Editor of GreenBiz Group. “So as those increase and become more available, I think that will also lead to more demands for transparency.”
The disclosure of product ingredients is just one of many transparency initiatives SC Johnson has pursued. Over the last decade, the company:
Consumers today expect more from companies, including information about the ingredients in the products they use. According to a recent global public opinion study, 74 percent of consumers worldwide expect companies to provide product transparency on their products and services.
“I’m immensely proud of the dedication and work by the people of SC Johnson to deliver global ingredient transparency,” Johnson said. “Through these efforts, SC Johnson continues to work hard to earn the goodwill of consumers. As a family company, we’re committed to honoring those values and maintaining that trust.”
“Over recent years, we have seen a lot of shifting in the area of ingredient transparency,” said Mary Mazzoni, Senior Editor of 3BL Media and TriplePundit. “For example, consumers now care about the ingredients in the products they buy, how those ingredients will affect their personal human health and, increasingly, the health of the environment.”
SC Johnson is a family company dedicated to innovative, high-quality products, excellence in the workplace and a long-term commitment to the environment and the communities in which it operates. Based in the USA, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of household cleaning products and products for home storage, air care, pest control and shoe care, as well as professional products. It markets such well-known brands as GLADE®, KIWI®, OFF!®, PLEDGE®, RAID®, SCRUBBING BUBBLES®, SHOUT®, WINDEX® and ZIPLOC® in the U.S. and beyond, with brands marketed outside the U.S. including AUTAN®, BAYGON®, BRISE®, KABIKILLER®, KLEAR®, MR MUSCLE® and RIDSECT®. The 133-year-old company, which generates $10 billion in sales, employs approximately 13,000 people globally and sells products in virtually every country around the world. www.scjohnson.com
[1] 2017 GlobeScan Radar