Public warned vs fake shampoos

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the public against buying and using fake versions of two popular brands of shampoo, saying these may pose health risks.

The agency, in coordination with Unilever Philippines Inc., issued the warning after it found out that fake Dove Nutritive Solutions Oxygen & Nourishment shampoos and Tresemme Smooth & Shine shampoos were being sold in the market.

The FDA noted that authentic Dove and Tresemme products had no shrink wraps. It added that the counterfeit products carried a different product coding format, or did not have a batch/lot number and manufacturing date.

“[Since] counterfeit products have [not] gone through the required safety assessment and the verification process of the FDA, [they] pose potential health hazards to the consuming public since their safety and purity cannot be guaranteed,” it said.

“The dangers/hazards may come from ingredients that are not allowed to be part of a cosmetic product or from the contamination of heavy metals such as lead and mercury. The use of substandard and possibly adulterated cosmetic products may result in adverse reactions, including but not limited to skin irritation, itchiness, anaphylactic shock and organ failure,” it added.

The FDA also warned establishments against distributing the fake products, otherwise, regulatory actions and sanctions would be meted out.

Meanwhile, the agency advised health care professionals and the public about the voluntary recall of a blood collection tube product that was made with less than the required amount of anticoagulant, saying these might cause erroneous results or misdiagnosis of treatment of diseases.

The FDA said the medical device product BD Vacutainer K2EDTA 3.6 mg blood collection tube, 13×75 mm x 2.0 mL were being voluntarily recalled by Becton, Dickinson and Company. Distributed by Metro Drug Inc., they are used to collect venous blood.