Extracting Allergen Percentages From an IFRA Statement

Every fragrance house sends you a compliance packet with the drum, and most makers file it away without really reading it. That packet, specifically the IFRA statement, is exactly where the numbers for your allergen labeling live. You just have to know which section to open.

What an IFRA statement actually contains

IFRA, the International Fragrance Association, sets usage standards for fragrance materials globally. When you buy a fragrance oil or blend, the supplier typically provides a Certificate of Conformity or IFRA statement confirming the blend meets those standards, along with supporting documentation. Buried in that documentation, sometimes in the certificate itself and sometimes in an attached allergen declaration, is a breakdown of the specific allergen compounds present in the blend and their percentage within the fragrance concentrate.

This is different from your SDS, which is built around handling and safety information across sixteen standard sections, with composition details in section three. The SDS will often name the fragrance blend as a whole and may or may not break out individual allergens. The IFRA allergen statement is the document built specifically to give you that breakdown.

The math you actually need to do

Here is where a lot of makers get the number wrong. The allergen percentage on the IFRA statement is the percentage within the fragrance concentrate itself, not within your finished product. You still have to carry that percentage through your use level.

Say your fragrance oil supplier's IFRA statement shows linalool at 8% of the fragrance concentrate. If you are using that fragrance oil at 1% in your finished lotion, the real concentration of linalool in your finished product is 0.08%, or 800 ppm. That is the number that matters for label decisions, not the 8% figure sitting on the supplier's paperwork.

Do this calculation for every named allergen in the statement:

1. Find the allergen's percentage within the fragrance concentrate
2. Multiply by your fragrance's use level in the finished product
3. Compare the result against the disclosure threshold for your product type

The thresholds that decide whether you disclose

Canada's approach ties disclosure to how the product is used. A leave-on product, something like a lotion or a leave-in serum, triggers disclosure above 0.001 percent, which is 10 ppm. A rinse-off product, like a body wash or shampoo, triggers disclosure at the higher threshold of 0.01 percent, or 100 ppm. The rinse-off threshold is looser because contact time is shorter, similar logic to how other ingredient limits shift between leave-on and rinse-off formats.

Common allergens to watch for on an IFRA statement include:

• Limonene
• Linalool
• Citronellol
• Geraniol
• Eugenol
• Coumarin

These occur naturally in a huge number of essential oils, not just synthetic fragrance compounds. A blend built entirely from "natural" essential oils can still carry meaningful allergen percentages, so do not assume a synthetic-free fragrance skips this step.

Timing matters this year

Canada's fragrance allergen disclosure rules are shifting on a defined schedule, and it is worth marking your calendar rather than assuming you have indefinite runway. The original allergen set, generally referred to as List 1, becomes mandatory on the CNF and on the product label on April 12, 2026. A second, expanded set aligned with international allergen lists, referred to as List 2, becomes mandatory on August 1, 2026. If you are formulating now, calculate against both lists so you are not redoing this work twice within a few months of each other.

A practical table for your files

What you need	Where to find it	What it tells you
Allergen name and CAS	IFRA allergen statement	Which compounds to check against disclosure lists
Percentage in concentrate	IFRA allergen statement	Starting number before dilution math
Your fragrance use level	Your own formula record	Multiplier to get finished-product concentration
Product format	Your own product	Which threshold, 10 ppm or 100 ppm, applies

Keep the paper trail

Save the IFRA statement for every fragrance lot you use, not just the first one. Fragrance houses do reformulate blends over time to stay within IFRA standards, and a new lot number can carry a different allergen profile even under the same product name. If you switch lots, redo the math.

This is the kind of multi-step calculation that Cosmetic Comply is built to carry for you. Feed in your fragrance blend's IFRA allergen data and your use level, and it works out the finished-product percentages, checks them against the current disclosure thresholds for your product type, and flags anything that needs to appear on your label before a reviewer signs off. Fewer spreadsheets, same rigor.