another soapbox rant

[thefarmerdaughter]

The whole freakin' area is a tourist trap, not just Muddy Pond LOL

Well I wasn't going to name, names...LOL
you must live close by to put 2 +2 together. :wave:

SO I research the company Edna Lucille products is owned by Troyer Food Company. They manufacture and distribute products all over the country. So it's not mom & pop soapers, and it's not M&p, and it's not Handmade.
Honestly I'm more upset at the owners of the General Store, b/c I know, they know, the difference between "store bought" bars and cp soap! They are just trying to turn profit on peoples ignorance.

 

[VanessaP]

Yeah, I'm in Crossville LOL

 

[paillo]

Soooo.......my question is where/who do you report things like this to? Locally if there is a disturbance or a car accident, we call local PD. Here on the forum if someone sees SPAM etc it is reported to the Mods.......etc. So I wonder if there is a way to report it or an address you could mail the bar with a list of all the info you stated. Now that might make you feel like you are able to do SOMETHING about these ppl that obviously so easily disregard the labeling laws.

I left comments on their website and plan on reporting to the FDA tomorrow after I dig up their complaints department. Egregious deception that gives the Mennonite markets a bad name.

 

[thefarmerdaughter]

I sent an email to http://www.troyerscountrymarket.com/about-us.aspx for whatever that's worth...

 

[cerelife]

I think the thing that bothers me the most when I run into soap vendors who are selling non-CP soaps and touting their products as "Handmade", "All-Natural", "Good for your skin because of X, Y, or Z random ingredients", etc., is that they usually can't answer any of my inquiries of WHY their soap is good for my skin...what makes this soap special? I would find the blank looks funny if they weren't selling this stuff to people who don't know better. Have a little pride in what you are selling! This is soooo not the way to make a quick buck!!
On the flipside...I was buying some CP soap at a fair a few months ago and the DH and I were paying for our soap when the soapmaker asked if we had ever used "real" soap before. DH said "Yep, every day, my wife (nodding at me) makes soap" and the vendor got a little smug with us. She was VERY condescending when she asked me if my soap had lye in it...I told her "Well, not when it's saponified, DUH...slow your roll, girl! I'm on your side." She apologized, but I understood.

 

[melstan775]

I think the thing that bothers me the most when I run into soap vendors who are selling non-CP soaps and touting their products as "Handmade", "All-Natural", "Good for your skin because of X, Y, or Z random ingredients", etc., is that they usually can't answer any of my inquiries of WHY their soap is good for my skin...what makes this soap special? I would find the blank looks funny if they weren't selling this stuff to people who don't know better. Have a little pride in what you are selling! This is soooo not the way to make a quick buck!!
On the flipside...I was buying some CP soap at a fair a few months ago and the DH and I were paying for our soap when the soapmaker asked if we had ever used "real" soap before. DH said "Yep, every day, my wife (nodding at me) makes soap" and the vendor got a little smug with us. She was VERY condescending when she asked me if my soap had lye in it...I told her "Well, not when it's saponified, DUH...slow your roll, girl! I'm on your side." She apologized, but I understood.

Did she think you wouldn't know that your lye wasn't lye anymore once it was saponified? Or was she trying to say her soap was lye free?

 

[thefarmerdaughter]

cerelife, i'm not defending your cranky soap vendor, but if she's had to deal w/a lot of people who give "handmade" soap a bad name, it could explain her bad 'ttuide.

 

[MaitriBB]

I think the thing that bothers me the most when I run into soap vendors who are selling non-CP soaps and touting their products as "Handmade", "All-Natural", "Good for your skin because of X, Y, or Z random ingredients", etc., is that they usually can't answer any of my inquiries of WHY their soap is good for my skin...what makes this soap special? I would find the blank looks funny if they weren't selling this stuff to people who don't know better. Have a little pride in what you are selling! This is soooo not the way to make a quick buck!!

Wellllll to be fair if the vendor said "oh yes my soap is moisturizing and helps with acne blah blah blah" then they would be making a cosmetic claim and we all know that's not cool.

But I see what you're saying Some M&P vendors just do it for the fun and don't know anything about the science.

I was at a retailer yesterday picking up some clay & glitter and when I told her that I was a soaper she said, "Oh isn't it fun! And so easy! 5 minutes and you're done!" to which I said, "I do cold process" and she said "oh .. well that's a bit messier" LOL! She was super nice though, gave me some insight as to the craft fairs in the area.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

Wellllll to be fair if the vendor said "oh yes my soap is moisturizing and helps with acne blah blah blah" then they would be making a cosmetic claim and we all know that's not cool.

Actually, a COSMETIC claim of "moisturizing" would be fine, as long as her product is properly labeled with INCI ingredients per FDA regulations, and in some states would require permitting of the sale of cosmetics, or registering the product.

It's MEDICAL claims that are a No-No, like "helps with acne", which is a medical condition.

 

[countymounty22]

You should have taken the bar to them and asked them if they were aware that their "handmade" bar has a common degreaser found in auto parts stores. One of my buddies has a job where all he does is scout for fake and knock off clothing. A division of the Indiana State Police. If anybody is familiar with the Marshall County Blueberry Festival, that is where he does most of his investigating. Also happens to be where I get most of my soaping money from working security, but I digress. I wish there were people who would go around and sniff out poser soapers or people who sell factory made soap as handmade.

 

[green soap]

The soap in question does not make any health claim, it is 'just soap' (not really, since they have also added detergents). But as far as the FDA is concerned, it is not their jurisdiction.

The agency that regulates soap (as long as it is just soap) is the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), not by FDA. Yes, they have a web page, not much about soap in it. I once asked them for some information on correctly labeling soap. This was 8 months ago, I am still waiting for them to answer (no worries, I have figured it out). Just saying that they have other priorities, and soap is very low on their list.

It seems like some type of consumer protection agency would be more appropriate. You are trying to protect an unknowing consumer from buying an item with false advertising. It is not pure soap since it has detergents, and it is not hand made. Unfortunately, the FDA is not interested, and the CPSC will not care since they are busy enough, and the product is safe. Not what it claims to be, but it will not endanger anyone.

 

[thefarmerdaughter]

So.... people like this can just be bad and no won's going to hold them accountable for it!?
I'm with Countmounty, I wish there were under cover Soap-Busters.

 

[Gryfonmoon]

I'm gonna have to agree with Green Soap on this one. It's so low on a prority list of things to police and if it doesn't hurt anyone then they're not going to care.

 

[deb8907]

Maybe it would help to bring the mislabeling of the "handmade" and "French milled" soap to the attention of the shop owner. It is a shame to deceive people this way.

 

[paillo]

Maybe it would help to bring the mislabeling of the "handmade" and "French milled" soap to the attention of the shop owner. It is a shame to deceive people this way.

i did that, emailed the manufacturer, as well as the fda. consumer products agency is a good idea, i'll do that too, low priority though it may be for them. hah, i will continue to tilt at windmills, HATE deception!!!!!

 

[deb8907]

You go girl! I admire you in your continued fight for fair labeling of handmade soap. I will be more diligent in checking labels and bringing any deception to the sttention of the vendor.

 

[sistrum]

While I agree 100% with what you're doing I find it rather disturbing where you're doing it from. Take a look around! This whole frigging forum is now plastered with ads from just those type of businesses!

This forum is becoming the laughing stock of the soaping community. Maybe we should clean up our own house first.

Or maybe we are now just like the store owners you were talking about. It's all about the money!!!!

 

[Genny]

While I agree 100% with what you're doing I find it rather disturbing where you're doing it from. Take a look around! This whole frigging forum is now plastered with ads from just those type of businesses!

This forum is becoming the laughing stock of the soaping community. Maybe we should clean up our own house first.

Or maybe we are now just like the store owners you were talking about. It's all about the money!!!!

Really? Laughing stock of the soaping community? :wtf:

I'm in about 1/2 a dozen soaping forums & several FB soaping groups and have never heard SMF mentioned in such a way.

Since SMF is not owned by a soaping business, like Teachsoap, Sage Forum, or DebbieMay Forum, the ads are needed to keep this "laughing stock community" available to use for free.

There is an option to disable the advertisements so you don't see them if they annoy you that much
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/f21/turning-off-ads-sidebar-30925/

 

[MaitriBB]

While I agree 100% with what you're doing I find it rather disturbing where you're doing it from. Take a look around! This whole frigging forum is now plastered with ads from just those type of businesses!

This forum is becoming the laughing stock of the soaping community. Maybe we should clean up our own house first.

Or maybe we are now just like the store owners you were talking about. It's all about the money!!!!

I'm sure the site owners would happily accept your donation to help keep the site running, so that they don't have to have ads.

 

[AlchemyandAshes]

While I agree 100% with what you're doing I find it rather disturbing where you're doing it from. Take a look around! This whole frigging forum is now plastered with ads from just those type of businesses!

This forum is becoming the laughing stock of the soaping community. Maybe we should clean up our own house first.

Or maybe we are now just like the store owners you were talking about. It's all about the money!!!!

There's also the option of not participating in such a "laughing stock" of a forum. It's pretty simple to "unjoin".