Natural ingredient manufacturers are queuing up to obtain certification to prove to increasingly wary consumers that their products are the real thing.
DuPont and Tate & Lyle Bio Products is a joint venture specialising in natural and renewably sourced ingredients and is no exception to the certification trend.
Obtaining the EcoCert label informs consumers that Zemea is made up of material that is 95 per cent of natural origin and 10 per cent organic.
Zemea aimed at naturals
DuPont and Tate & Lyle Bio Products launched of Zemea in 2007 to provide formulators with a natural-based alternative to propylene glycol and butylene glycol.
Derived from a sustainable and renewable corn sugar fermentation process, Zemea can function as an emollient, humectant, hand-feel modifier or solvent.
The president DuPont and Tate & Lyle Bio Products, Steven J. Mirshak, spoke to CosmeticsDesign.com in a video interview at In-Cosmetics in Amsterdam this April to explain the breakthrough potential of the ingredient.
Zemea is the first natural origin glycol
Mirshak said Zemea is the first glycol on the market of a natural origin that allows formulators to eradicate the use of petroleum based glycols.
He said the ingredient also has performance advantages such as skin friendliness because there was none of the irritation problems associated with the other glycols. The company also emphasizes the moisturizing properties of Zemea.
In addition to its sensory and natural properties, Mirshak said the greenhouse emissions from the manufacturing and development of Zemea are less significant than other glycols owing to its renewable origins.