Talking Allergies

I had a good experience with the Jergens company today. I called to ask about the ingredients in one of their soaps. She said if I gave her my e-mail address, she would send me the list of ingredients. It came and was very long, so it was nice to be able to read it at my leisure. It would be nicer to have it on the label, but I still thought this was good customer service.

Soccermom

Hi Soccermom; i"m pleased to hear there is a company who will actually give you the ingredient listing. How nice to know Jergens did this. Could you post the email address or phone number for them?

Several weeks ago I became so upset with Unilver that my blood pressure went up. I called them about the ingredients in a shampoo my daughter-in-law wanted to pick up. As with most, if not all, of their products, the ingred. aren't listed. So I asked for a copy of them. Response was this - tell me what your allergy is and I'll tell you if it's present. Told him and he said no shellfish listed. Asked if the ingred were in plain English or the weird scientific names. Guess what, they were scientific names and he no doubt didn't know what each one meant. Saw no word shellfish, so therefore none. Explaining this I asked if he would forward via email the list and I would research each ingred myself. Nope, he said, against policy. What!!!! Then spell them off to me and I'll write them down. Again, nope, against policy. What ensued from there was an actual arguement between this young man and myself.

Normally, I would have left the conversation and found another way to get the info but it was (no excuse) so hot and humid that day and my temper was short. Anyway, to get to the end of the tirade, the young man explained to me that it was against policy to give out the list of ingredients to anywone. They are permitted to check the list themselves for any allergens once we state them. Asked him if he new what chitin or chitosan meant. Did not. Informed him that both are derived from crab and if it is in the shampoo I will react. Explained that anaphyaxis is serious and life-threatening and we need access to the said ingredients because not everyone knows the various names it could be listed under. Hense the question of chititn and chitosan which is in some shampoo. Still would not give in.

I then asked for a name of someone higher up to speak with and he said there was only him. Asked for name, address etc of anyone within the company I could speak or write to. Nope, only him. At this point I was so fustrated that I told him to pass on to his (invisible ) supervisor that I am now boycotting any Unilver product because of their hidden ingredients and uncoperative service. Also, and it wasn't a threat, it was a fact, that I will tell anyone who will listen about the so called policy and the uncoperative nature. By having no public disclosure, to me, could mean secrets or unsafe ingredients etc. All of this is my own opinion and my anger and fustration. Maybe he, like me, was having a bad day. Who knows. Others may have had a better experience.

I have found many ingred listings on the internet but are not always current. Things change.

Have any of your had similar problems getting to the bottom of cosmetic and body product ingredients? There is shellfish in both and I hope someone out there knows how to get some of these non-listed ingredients. Even with the new laws of listing, not every minute ingred is listed. If I remember correctly the law states that any that are under a minute % not need be listed. Is that correct? If so, we need to find out about all ingred. because that minute one could be the one that we react to.

Sorry for the tirade. I would really like to find a good moisturizer and hopefully Jergens is the answer.

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Sue
Adult on-set anaphylaxis - penicillin, shellfish, crustaceans

Gee, I'm stunned by this idiot pretending to be the only one working at Unilever! He was obviously in the wrong and did not want you to report him to his superiors.

I would try talking to somebody else there. I think you just happened to get the bad apple.

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15 year old - asthmatic, allergic to cats, dogs, horses, waiting to be "officially" diagnosed for anaphylaxis
12 year old - asthmatic, allergic to tree pollen and mold, OAS
Husband - Allergic to amoxycillin
Self - Allergic to housework only

Thanks Nicole. Yes, now that I have vented I realize my next step is to find head office address and fire off letter demanding ingredient disclosure. After reading the past months posts I will also mention(as someone suggested in their post) I am a member of the forum- to add a little clout. I guess if no one rocks the boat nothing is achieved. Better to stir the pot than not, eh?

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Sue
Adult on-set anaphylaxis - penicillin, shellfish, crustaceans

Yeah, I actually had this problem as well...with dish detergent and hand soap. I think it was unilever I dealt with too. It seems I deal with so many companies I can't keep it all straight anymore...but Unilever is on my personal list of companies to not purchase from.

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DD age 9 1/2 -peanuts, nuts,
DD age 7 1/2 - milk, eggs, chicken, peanuts, treenuts, cats, dogs,
DS age 2 1/2
Husband- asthma, eggs, treenuts, fish, shellfish environmental
Self - penicillan, eurithromiacin, mild laytex allergy.

susieQ,

The number for Jergens is 1-800-892-9515.
Have a great day!

Soccermom

http://www.unilever.ca/ourvalues/sciandtech/default.asp

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy and green beans) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: Oral Allergy Syndrome, Allergic to Birch trees

Good luck with the battle, susieQ. I would definitely move things up the food chain. That was bad customer service, at the very least.

K.

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Karen, proud Mom of
- DS1 (12 yrs): allergic to cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, potatoes, some legumes, some fish, pumpkin seeds; OAS
- DS2 (1o yrs): ana. to dairy, eggs, peanuts; asthma