MANILA, Philippines — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned against the purchase and use of Ever Bilena’s Lip & Cheek Stain Night Berry after it was found to contain an excessive volume of microbial contaminants.
The FDA said the cosmetic product was found to contain microbial contaminants beyond the 1000 colony-forming unit per gram limit set by the FDA and the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive.
“The aforementioned adulterated product is found to be non-compliant with the existing standards, and, thus pose potential hazards to the consuming public,” the regulator said in an advisory dated Tuesday.
According to the FDA, using “adulterated” cosmetic products may result in adverse reactions, including skin irritation, itchiness, anaphylactic shock, and organ failure.
“In light of the foregoing, the public is advised not to purchase the aforementioned adulterated cosmetic product. Always check if a product is notified by the FDA by using the FDA Verification Portal feature accessible at https://verification.fda.gov.ph which may be used by typing in the name of the product before the purchase and/or using the cosmetic products,” the FDA said.
“All concerned establishments are warned not to distribute adulterated cosmetic products” the agency added.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Ever Bilena said the FDA advisory only covers batch #19A03QW of the EB Lip & Cheek Stain in Night Berry variant.
We clarify that this advisory affects batch #19A03QW of EB LIP & CHEEK STAIN NIGHT BERRY variant only.
We are doing our own internal testing, results should be out in 7 days. Simultaneously, we are also engaging with a 3rd party lab for their findings. pic.twitter.com/4rLqLDiPa0
— Ever Bilena (@EverBilenaPH) March 16, 2021
The cosmetic company said all its products go through quality control before they are approved for distribution in the market.
“Each Ever Bilena product is subjected to microbial testing prior to release to trade. Everything released from the warehouse is FDA compliant,” it added.
Ever Bilena said it is conducting internal testing of the product, which will take from five to seven days.