live clean shampoo – Allergen Alert

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healthy balance shampoo and conditionerRecently, I bought live clean healthy balance shampoo and conditioner at Shoppers Drug Mart. While double checking the ingredient list of the products for any nut oils, I had a nasty surprise: The shampoo contains nut oil! As Jacob has life-threatening tree nut allergies, the last thing I want is to do is contaminate myself and our shower stall with nut oil.

I didn’t catch the allergen in question at first glance, and the way it’s displayed in the ingredient list is potentially misleading, so I wanted to ensure that I share a warning here. The ingredient is listed as: “Aleurites moluccanus, seed oil.”  What caught my attention is that the common name of the ingredient was not included in brackets after the Latin name, and the comma was in a strange place.

"Candle nuts (kemiri)" by ChildofMidnight at English Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Candle_nuts_(kemiri).jpg#/media/File:Candle_nuts_(kemiri).jpgIt turns out that Aleurites moluccanus seeds are also know as candlenuts, Indian walnuts, kemiri, or kukui nuts. Ripe nuts are pounded into a paste and used as soap, shampoo, or moisturizing oil.

The FAQ page on the live clean site does not provide this information, despite an entry related to nut oils. Instead it says:

“Do Live Clean products contain nuts or nut oils?

Currently, products in our Live Clean Exotic Shine Bali Oil collection contain Certified Organic Sweet Almond Oils and products in our Live Clean Exotic Silk Keratin Oil collection contain Certified Organic Macadamia Integrifolia Seed Oils. Certified Organic Coconut Oil is contained in some other Live Clean products.As we have quite a range of Live Clean products, we suggest that you review the ingredients listed on the back of each product’s packaging and then make the appropriate choice. If there is a specific Live Clean product of interest, we can certainly provide more information on that product. Should you have severe nut allergies, please check with a physician first.”

It is possible that like shea, this is a less allergenic tree nut, but that testing has not occurred. This means that it is NOT an acceptable risk in my household, and I returned the shampoo for a refund. I hope this information helps you make decisions that are safe for your household.

* I would love for you to share this article either using the Sharing Is Caring buttons below, or by copying and pasting this link:  http://blog.onespotallergy.com/2015/06/live-clean-shampoo-allergen-alert/

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleurites_moluccanus and http://live-clean.com/content/faq%27s both accessed 15 June 2015

Image credit: “Candle nuts (kemiri)” by ChildofMidnight at English Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Candle_nuts_(kemiri).jpg#/media/File:Candle_nuts_(kemiri).jpg

 

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  1. Steve
    Steve at |

    Thanks for spreading out this message. I would love to share this article on Affinity’s Food Allergies channel.

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