I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5017 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to treat as misbranded 
cosmetics with packaging or labeling using the term ‘‘natural’’ unless 
the product meets certain standards, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 8, 2019 
Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York (for himself, Ms. MENG, and Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to 
treat as misbranded cosmetics with packaging or labeling 
using the term ‘‘natural’’ unless the product meets cer-
tain standards, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Natural Cosmetics 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. COSMETICS WITH CERTAIN TERMS MISBRANDED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 602 of the Federal Food, 
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 362) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) If its packaging or labeling bears the term ‘nat-
ural’ unless— 
‘‘(1) if the term ‘natural’ pertains to the cos-
metic overall, the cosmetic contains— 
‘‘(A) at least 70 percent natural sub-
stances (other than water and salt); 
‘‘(B) no fragrance ingredient other than a 
natural substance or naturally-derived ingre-
dient; and 
‘‘(C) other than natural substances and 
water, contains only naturally-derived ingredi-
ents except to the extent a naturally-derived in-
gredient— 
‘‘(i) is not available for a specific 
function; or 
‘‘(ii) is otherwise not feasible; 
‘‘(2) if the term ‘natural’ pertains to one or 
more ingredients in the cosmetic— 
‘‘(A) the ingredient statement identifies 
natural ingredients individually with the terms 
‘natural’ or ‘naturally-derived ingredient’; 
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‘‘(B) the listing of each such ingredient is 
followed by a reference mark; and 
‘‘(C) the labeling contains the definition of 
such terms below the ingredient statement; and 
‘‘(3) the cosmetic is not made using any of the 
following: 
‘‘(A) Alkoxylation (including ethoxylation 
and propoxylation) using ethylene oxide, pro-
pylene oxide, or other alkylene oxides. 
‘‘(B) Deterpenation (other than with 
steam). 
‘‘(C) Halogenation as the main reaction. 
‘‘(D) Ionizing radiation. 
‘‘(E) Sulphonation as the main reaction. 
‘‘(F) Treatment with ethylene oxide. 
‘‘(G) Treatment using mercury.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Chapter VI of the Federal Food, 
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 361 et seq.) is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 604. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this chapter: 
‘‘(1)(A) The term ‘natural’ means any chemical 
substance that is naturally occurring and which is— 
‘‘(i) unprocessed; 
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‘‘(ii) processed only by manual, mechan-
ical, naturally derived solvent or gravitational 
means, by dissolution in water or steam, by flo-
tation, or by heating solely to remove water; or 
‘‘(iii) extracted from air by any means. 
‘‘(B) Such term does not include petroleum and 
petroleum derived ingredients. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘naturally-derived ingredient’ 
means— 
‘‘(A) any substance where the starting ma-
terial is of mineral, plant, microbe, or animal 
origin but has been chemically processed; 
‘‘(B) any substance where the starting ma-
terial is of mineral, plant, microbe, or animal 
origin but has been chemically processed and 
combined with other ingredients, excluding pe-
troleum and fossil fuel-derived ingredients; or 
‘‘(C) an ingredient that is derived from a 
plant feedstock and bio-manufactured using 
processes like fermentation, saponification, con-
densation, or esterification in order to improve 
performance or make the ingredient biodegrad-
able or sustainable.’’. 
(c) APPLICABILITY.—Section 602(g) of the Federal 
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as added by subsection 
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