Laboratories have an important role in vegan certification, providing guarantees against fraud on vegan products and adding value to businesses. Head of LPPOM MUI Laboratory, Heryani, S.Si., M.TPn., conveyed this in a webinar with the theme “A Beauty and Healthy of Vegan Cosmetics,” which was held by LPPOM MUI on July 6, 2023, in collaboration with the World Vegan Organization & Vegan Society Indonesia and Skinproof.
The vegan trend that avoids consuming animal food based is now increasingly popular. The vegan lifestyle, initially focused on food, began to spread to other aspects, such as cosmetics. Currently, there is an abundance of body and beauty care products that claim to animal free.
According to the Head of Skinproof, apt. Theresia Siandang, S. Farm, important things must be considered in vegan cosmetic products. There is an assumption that vegan cosmetics are synonymous with natural cosmetics, even though not all natural cosmetics are vegan. Vegan is natural since it is plant-based, but natural is not necessarily vegan.
“There is a mistake in cosmetics that contain honey but claim to be vegan; the definition of vegan is that it does not contain animal elements, while honey is an ingredient derived from bees. This is still a misperception in determining vegan products,” Theresia explained.
On the same occasion, the President of the World Vegan Organization & Vegans Indonesian Society, Dr. Susianto, said, “Vegan is an extraordinary business trend. The trend is rising like a rocket, including vegan cosmetics. Therefore vegan certification is important for marketing vegan products.”
Heryani revealed, “Mordor Intelligence shows a trend of using vegan cosmetics, which is increasing annually. Annual revenue growth from vegan cosmetics is quite high at around 6.5%, and this trend is dominated by the European and North American markets. For Asia, this is dominated by India, while in Indonesia itself, the trend for vegan cosmetics has started to emerge and has great potential.”
According to him, even though it is claimed to use vegetable ingredients, there is no guarantee that vegan cosmetics are halal. There is a possibility of using auxiliary materials from animals that are not halal or contain uncleanness, such as using animal enzymes to process a compound. In addition, there is also the potential to use ingredients containing khamr (liquor) as solvents, emulsifiers, antiseptics, and preservatives.
Before carrying out vegan certification for cosmetic products, it is necessary to identify the raw materials to be used since there are many opportunities for raw materials derived from animal derivatives and contamination of raw materials for production. The way is to test in the laboratory.
The government has enacted regulations related to vegan products as stated in BPOM RI Regulation Number 31 of 2018 Article 64 concerning Processed Food Labels. This rule says that including the vegan logo or writing on the product must be proven by deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis.
“This vegan test is crucial to avoid false or fraudulent claims about the source of vegan ingredients. In addition, laboratory testing can be an added value to corroborate data and ensure the product is vegan. At last, the data from the laboratory test can be controlled and a confirmation that our products are free of animal-based ingredients,” said Hery.
Visit our website to access more information about LPPOM MUI laboratory testing https://e-halallab.com/ (ZUL)
