Nottingham City Council’s Trading Standards service recently collaborated with colleagues from across the East Midlands on a project to check the safety on a range of cosmetic products.
As part of the initiative, Trading Standards officers examined 198 cosmetic products from a range of retailers across the East Midlands area. 78% of these products were found to be non-compliant with UK cosmetic safety regulations.
Other key findings included:
- 29% of the 35 products screen tested from national retailers were non-compliant
- 88% of the 163 products screen tested from other trader types were non-compliant
- 44% of products did not bear the responsible person details
- 71% of products required some follow up work
- 28% of products had restricted/banned ingredients
- 35% of products were seized by officers (none of these were from national traders)
Issues identified included missing mandatory information such as details of the responsible person, batch codes, minimum durability dates, ingredient lists, and precautionary statements where required. A number of products were also found to contain banned or restricted substances. As a result, 35% of product lines examined by officers were seized, and 71% required some form of follow-up action, including referrals to other local authorities.
Nottingham City Council seized several cosmetic products found to contain banned ingredients, including Butylphenyl Methylpropional (BMHCA), as well as face paints with non-permitted Solvent Yellow 172 and undeclared colourants such as CI 45160 and CI 45174, which are not authorised for use in cosmetic products.
Consumers are reminded to:
- Always read the label – check for the UK/EU responsible person’s name and address
- Follow instructions and warnings
- Buy from reputable retailers and avoid products labelled “for professional use only”
Cllr Corall Jenkins, Executive Member for Communities, Waste and Equalities, said: “This is an excellent piece of collaborative work between Trading Standards teams in the East Midlands. Some of these statistics are quite shocking and show the serious risks posed by unsafe cosmetic products.”
“Consumers deserve to know that the items they purchase are safe and properly labelled. Anyone who has any concerns should contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline.”
If you have concerns about a cosmetic product, contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133.
Businesses can seek advice from Trading Standards and find guidance online via the Business Companion or Government websites.