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Published February 09, 2011, 08:57 AM

SC Johnson Company challenged in court and by Feds on "Green List"

Wisconsin Business
-- SC Johnson of Racine is being challenged on two fronts about its self-imposed labeling of products as being environmentally-friendly.

RACINE - SC Johnson of Racine is being challenged on two fronts about its self-imposed labeling of products as being environmentally-friendly.

A two-year-old civil suit accused the household products giant of being deceptive in implying that its Windex glass cleaner and Shout stain remover were tested by a neutral party. Also, the federal government is considering new regulations on the subject. Both products carry the “Green-list” seal of approval. But a customer has to look on the inside label to see that Johnson actually holds the patent to “Green-list.” The legal cases are still pending in Wisconsin and California. Under the proposed federal regulations, it would be considered deceptive for a company to imply that a product has been certified by an outside party when it’s really not.

SC Johnson spokesman Christopher Beard denies that its “Green-list” label is misleading. He says the company’s program has eliminated 48-million pounds of volatile organic chemicals from its cleaning products in the past five years. And Bears says SC Johnson is proud of that.

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