A young artisan soap-maker risks being put out of business by an EU directive which bans the sale of anything potentially noxious and looks or smells like food but is not.
Charlene Mercieca, 28, made a success of her business in Sliema selling soap made from natural products such as olive oils and bars shaped like muffins, cakes and other food items.
However, a year after she set up shop, she was faced with a notice by the Malta Standards Authority warning her to stop selling her “food-imitating” products immediately because they breached EU rules, which became part of Maltese laws in 2001.
A frustrated Ms Mercieca is willing to stop producing items such as the muffin soaps but the MSA is also objecting to regular blocks of soap, which she cuts and sells by the gram, arguing they could be mistaken for cheese or chocolate.
“They’re not getting it. This is artisan work. It’s an art in itself. Some countries have whole traditions built on soap-making,” Ms Mercieca said as she stood in her Sliema shop.
“It takes up to four weeks to make a bar of soap. I’m willing to compromise and I’m asking for guidance.... I have to put an end to this insanity,” she said.
Ironically, as she spoke, a young boy accompanied by his grandmother pointed towards a decorative wooden ladybird and asked his nanna whether that was soap. The boy, not older that eight years, burst into a giggle and said it was made of wood when his grandmother turned the question back to him.
A spokesman for the MSA said Ms Mercieca’s soaps were being investigated on the strength of a legal notice “designed to protect people, especially children”.
The legal notice prohibits the sale, manufacture, import or export of any products that, although not food, “possess a form, odour, colour, appearance, packaging, labelling, volume or size, such that it is likely that consumers, especially children, will confuse them with foodstuffs and, in consequence, place them in their mouths, or suck or ingest them”.
Given that Ms Mercieca’s handmade soaps are mainly made from fruit, herbs and oils, they are bound to smell like food. So is she doomed to shut down her business? Does she have a way out?
“Yes (she does), any object other than food, can be imitated,” the MSA said but her “produce” had to be vetted by the authority, which said it was waiting for samples.
Ms Mercieca said she was not aware the MSA wanted to examine her products but had no problem taking some samples next week.
A member of the Malta Crafts Council, Ms Mercieca started making soap as a hobby five years ago and opened her shop, Soap Café, last December after conducting lots of research.
She ensures her products are labelled and include batch-code numbers, the list of ingredients and contact details.
The concept behind her business is to sell soap made with natural, local materials in a café like environment where clients can interact with her.
Two weeks ago she placed an advert, with a picture of her soaps, in a newspaper and a few days later the MSA called her for a meeting.
The advert showed images of small soaps shaped like sushi or pastries, which she sold as wedding souvenirs. Such soapy delicacies were not sold in her shop but commissioned for special occasions, just like a work of art, she noted.
However, she was told she had to stop producing her soaps because they were hazardous to children.
“Wherever you go you see things children can chew or are in the shape of food or smell like food. Examples are children’s erasers and pencils. Detergents too smell of lemon and other fruits and pills look like sweets... Where will they draw the line,” she wondered.
Ms Mercieca is trying to understand where that line stops through her Facebook page where she is asking people to upload images of objects that look or smell like food. This, she stressed, is done for research purposes.