At Sara Lee, as one of the leading FMCG companies worldwide, we take great pride in ensuring that consumers can trust the quality and safety of our products. That commitment is visible in our ongoing dialogue with regulators, legislators, advocates, experts and others to ensure we collectively identify, communicate and address opportunities for the industry to continuously/further improve their products.

In line with our corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments, we are managing a Critical I ngredients Program (CIP) across all household and body care product categories. The program involves constant and systematic reviews of various ingredients and combinations of ingredients used in the manufacturing process of our products. E cosystem, human health, and other related potential effects are considered. The reviews assess hazardous properties, (legal) regulations, new developments based on scientific research, newfound consumer insights and desires as well as expectations from interest groups resulting in a ranking of chemicals in the so called CIP List.

Each year, an action plan is determined based on the CIP List. A plan for reducing usage / phasing-out and / or halting use of ingredients on the CIP List is shared with all relevant project managers, and they are required to implement their respective aspects. This approach has proven effective, with numerous chemicals having been removed from or substituted in product formulas in the last few years.

How do we make it work?

A strong motivation to make things work is a shared belief among employees in doing the right thing, and CIP is a clear example. Management keeps recognizing the program's importance by continuously giving it top priority. Another key is to provide the people throughout the company the information and tools necessary to monitor the progress of the CIP and the status of the chemicals we use in our products. In that respect we manage a central Chemical I nformation System which is accessible to all Sara Lee employees and which provides information about the properties and the CIP status for all chemicals used (or expected to be used) in our products. The "CIP check" is also made an integral part of standard activities like new product development or product maintenance. In this way we maintain the awareness, continuity and the integrity of the process.

Examples of challenging substitutions in Sara Lee products

In the past two years, our CIP addressed a number of (categories of) chemicals, including:

• Phthalates (o.a. DEP, DIDP, DINP, DNOP, DEHP DBP, BBP)
• Nitro-Musks and polycyclic-Musks (PCMs)
• Triclosan
• PVC

One of the very challenging CIP projects was the removal of PCMs from our products. Since PCMs are an important part of the fragrances for which many of our products and brands are known, this was regarded as business-sensitive and high risk.

We organized an extensive project in cooperation with the involved fragrance houses, from which we requested new raw materials (i.e., fragrances) according to the new CIP requirements. In parallel, all relevant Sara Lee R&D departments started necessary re-formulating the products affected. The required tests, like stability of the new formulations, bio-physical and sensory evaluations were all performed by our own R&D group. Moreover an internal fragrance expert panel was trained for the important task of matching the smell sensation related to the products, a feature that is well known, recognizable and very important for the brands.

Another example was removing from all our liquid hand soaps the ingredient which supported the "anti-bacterial" claim, Triclosan. Its substitute had to be at least as effective and have comparable performance and compatibility in the formulation. In this particular case, our microbiology department worked in cooperation with product developers from involved categories to provide the necessary support. Performance data derived from numerous tests were combined with safety and environmental profile information resulting in a ranking of the different alternatives based on best performance with the least impact on health and environment.

The substitute of choice was lactic acid, which is effective, has very low toxicity, a good environmental profile and - above all also naturally occurs in the human body and the skin as one of the Natural Skin Moisturizers.

The success of this and other chemical substitution projects within Sara Lee is a result of a strong involvement and cooperation between departments (R&D, marketing, procurement and operations) coordinated by a CSR steering team and inspired by a management team with a strong vision for better and more responsible products.

Today, the CIP is imbedded in our way of doing business and the ChemSec's substitution initiative represents a natural fit that helps the program grow. We invite all stakeholders involved in bringing the best possible products to society to consider embracing this worthy initiative. With transparency, consensus and a clear vision for a cleaner, safer and brighter future.