Ingredient disclosure

Fragrance

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The definition Counteracting an odor is included The label can still use a generic term The website is where it gets specific Which matters if you buy your fragrance in Ask for a disclosure pack, not a data sheet Unscented is a real option References

In most labeling regimes fragrance is one word. Here it is a defined term with its own treatment.

The definition

"Any intentionally added substance or complex mixture of aroma chemicals, natural essential oils, and other functional ingredient or ingredients for which the sole purpose is to impart an odor or scent, or to counteract an odor."

Counteracting an odor is included

A masking agent added to cover the smell of a surfactant is a fragrance ingredient by this definition even though nobody would call the product scented. That catches a lot of otherwise unscented formulations.

The label can still use a generic term

Under the second label option, generic terms such as "fragrances" are permitted on the package, which is the shelter a perfumer expects.

The website is where it gets specific

Both label options carry fragrance allergen requirements, and the website disclosure is the fuller list. A proprietary scent blend is less protected here than it is under cosmetic labeling, and that is the deliberate point of the statute.

Which matters if you buy your fragrance in

A fragrance house supplying a blend may treat its composition as confidential. If you cannot get what you need to disclose, you cannot comply, and the time to establish that is when choosing the supplier.

Ask for a disclosure pack, not a data sheet

A safety data sheet is written for a different purpose and will not generally give you an allergen list with CAS numbers. Ask specifically for what the cleaning product disclosure regimes require, and ask before you commit to the scent.

Unscented is a real option

It removes a supplier dependency, an allergen question and a column of the disclosure, and a meaningful part of the laundry market is actively looking for it. For a small range that is a simplification worth pricing.

References

California Health and Safety Code 108952, the definitions in the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017. A "designated product" is "a finished product that is an air care product, automotive product, general cleaning product, or a polish or floor maintenance product used primarily for janitorial, domestic, or institutional cleaning purposes". An "intentionally added ingredient" is "a chemical that a manufacturer has intentionally added to a designated product and that has a functional or technical effect in the designated product". codes.findlaw.com

California Health and Safety Code 108954, the label disclosure. The manufacturer discloses under one of two options, and in either case discloses "the manufacturer's toll-free telephone number and Internet Web site address on the designated product label"; where the label does not carry a complete ingredient list it carries the address of a website that provides the required information, and a toll-free number. codes.findlaw.com

Reported compliance dates and website content requirements, from consistent secondary sources rather than from the statute text: website disclosure from 1 January 2020 and label disclosure from 1 January 2021, with the website list carrying nonfunctional constituents present at 0.01 percent or above, a CAS number for every listed chemical and the functional purpose of each intentionally added ingredient. Confirm against the current text before printing. New York operates a separate Household Cleansing Product Information Disclosure Program.

Written from California Health and Safety Code 108952, 108954 and 108954.5 and from 16 CFR 1700.14, and from the catalog as it stood on 17 October 2026. Disclosure law in this category is state law and it moves; the dates and the website content requirements here come from secondary sources and are flagged where that is so. Confirm against the current text before a label is printed.