BDIH
Is an association that deals with natural cosmetics standards on the German market for medicinal products, health food products, dietary supplements and cosmetics, and named BDIH.
The sing BDIH mark is a guarantee of providing complete and transparent information about natural products. In order for a product to receive the BDIH certificate and receive the status of natural, it must meet the criteria of “Controlled Natural Cosmetics“. The standard attaches great importance to the nature of the origin of raw materials for the production of cosmetic products. Raw materials can be of vegetable or mineral origin. Raw materials of plant origin must be grown without the use of chemical fertilizers, for example, herbicides and pesticides, or grow in natural or wild conditions. Raw materials of mineral origin are allowed with restrictions. For example, the use of inorganic salts, such as magnesium sulfate or mineral raw materials, sodium chloride, is allowed, but the use of products derived from oil is prohibited!
The standard pays special attention to the protection of animal rights. So, it is forbidden to test and test natural cosmetics on animals! Therefore, if there is a BDIH mark on the packaging of a cosmetic product and there is no sign that means “not tested on animals”, you should not worry, the BDIH marking guarantees that the product is not tested on animals! The BDIH standard allows the use of animal waste products, such products are royal jelly of bees or fat from goat hair – lanolin, but prohibits the use of raw materials obtained from dead vertebrates, for example, animal fat, animal collagen or living cells.
Emulsifiers and surfactants obtained by hydrolysis, hydrogenation, esterification, transesterification from the following natural raw materials are allowed for the production of natural cosmetics: fats, oils and waxes, lecithins, lanolin, monosaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides, proteins and lipoproteins.
The BDIH Standard prohibits the use of synthetic dyes and flavors, ethoxylated components (detergents), silicones, paraffin and other petroleum products. The list of permitted aromatic substances establishes the ISO-Norm 9235 Standard.
The BDIH standard permits the use of natural preservatives, such as: benzoic acid, its salts and esters, salicylic acid (salicylic acid) and its salts, sorbic acid and its salts, benzyl alcohol.
The BDIH standard prohibits the use of sterilization of organic raw materials and finished cosmetic products by any radioactive irradiation.