The natural choice for antimicrobial protection

 Additionally, consumers have become more aware of the active ingredients in the personal care and cosmetics products they buy, and are driving the market toward more natural formulations, as these are perceived as being safer and more sustainable. 

Organic acid preservatives have gained in popularity due to their perception not only as natural and safer, but also as efficacious and cost-effective, unlike many of the other ‘natural’ preservatives. Europe, which is the global regulatory leader in cosmetics and personal care, uses organic acids for preservation at twice the rate of the rest of the world. Formulators worldwide have come to follow the regulations and trends in Europe, especially if they are formulating products intended for sale globally. As a result, the cosmetics and personal care world is realising the advantages of organic acid based preservation.  Organic acids face only limited restrictions anywhere in the world from any regulatory body – this cannot be said about most other preservatives. Furthermore, many organic acids are compliant with COSMOS Natural certification, something that is highly sought after in today’s market. Being widely used as food preservatives, organic acids are often familiar to and accepted by most consumers as being safe.  For these reasons, organic acid preservatives are expected to continue to grow in global popularity for the foreseeable future. 

Organic acids come in many varieties, with different strengths and weaknesses. Differences include natural vs. synthetic sourcing, effective pH ranges, efficacy range, water solubility, and cost. Troy has been deeply involved in the study and development of the best performing blends, and is at the forefront of this next wave of innovation for personal care and cosmetics. Troy’s R&D evaluated various organic acid systems to identify the best performing ones with the fewest compromises, and then identified organic acids that are either naturally sourced or identical to those found occurring in nature. Additionally, Troy addressed one of the more significant drawbacks of some organic acids, that of pH range. Formulators have been limited in the use of organics due to the relatively low pH ceiling many organic acids have. The limited efficacy range of many common organic acids was also overcome through Troy’s R&D work on broad-spectrum blends that protect against bacteria and fungi. Lastly, the company’s efforts were also aimed at preservative solutions that do not present formulators with significant cost increases compared with other popular options. At the end of its intensive R&D evaluation, Troy launched a unique family of organic acid preservatives for the natural and sustainable formulations of tomorrow.