FDA bans 23 more whitening products

By: Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer

The Food and Drug Administration ordered the banning of 23 more cosmetic whitening products found to contain mercury exceeding legal limits.

Most of the products do not contain information on place of manufacture in their packaging. Those that have show they were either made in Hong Kong, Taiwan or China.

After put to laboratory analysis, the products were found to contain mercury in excess of the legal limit of “one part per million,” according to FDA director Suzette Lazo.

“These cosmetic products, therefore, pose imminent danger or injury to the consuming public and the importation, selling or offering for sale of such is in direct violation of the FDA Act of 2009,” FDA said in its Advisory No. 2011-012 issued yesterday.

The FDA ordered its personnel to seize all the banned products if found in retail outlets and establishments. Local government units were also asked to help in apprehending vendors of the banned products.

The newly-banned products are Miss Beauty Magic Cream; Miss Beauty Excellent Therapy Whitening Cream; Dagette and Ramsdell Underarm Lightening Cream; Lanmeirou 12 Days Whiten and Speckle Removing Suit; Berglotus Spot Removing Series; Yoko Gentlemen Cream for Men; Jonathan Clearing Facial Spots 12 Day Cream; The Flower Woman 7-day Whitening and Spot and Night Set Cream; Sara Glutathione Sheep Placenta Whitening and Anti-Spot Cream; Aichun Beauty Green Tea Whitening Speckle Removing Series Cream; and Aichun Beauty Whitening Freckle Day and Night Cream.

Others earlier placed on the list were BIB Night Cream Whitening Cream – 922; Pretty Model Whitening and Freckle Removing (Day Cream and Night Cream-Set); Pretty Girl 10 Day Special Cream; Pretty Girl Green Cucumber and Ginseng Cream; Liliki Whitening Day Cream – 911; Liliki Whitening Night Cream – 912; New Miss Beauty Magic Cream; Jiaoli Rejuvenation Essence 10 Days Speckle Removing; Jaio Liang 7 Days Eliminating Fredkle AB Set; Jiao Liang 10 Days Eliminating Fredkle AB Set; Beauty Girl 6 Days Specific Eliminating Fredkle Whitening Cream Egg White and Tomato 3in1; and Beautiful Dream Whitening Anti-Speckle and Anti-Azne Kit.

The FDA examinations and subsequent ban were taken in response to claims of antitoxic group, EcoWaste Coalition, that there were beauty products with “atrociously” high levels of mercury content, with some going as high as 28,600 ppm.

According to the Department of Health, mercury is a known neurotoxicant, which damages the kidneys and many body systems, including the nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, hematologic, immune and reproductive systems.