NEW DELHI: in a bid to help consumers of cosmetic items make informed choices, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has asked manufactures to declare all ingredients in their products and specify their purpose.
As of now, there is no central law mandating manufacturers to declare all components in their skin and make-up products, though there is such a rule for drugs.
Officials said the new norm will be implemented through an amendment in the Drug and Cosmetics Act.
At present, licences are granted to manufacturers without asking for the detailed composition, they added.
“There have been instances of phenol and trichloroacetic acid, which are extremely harmful for human body, being detected in cosmetic products,” said a CDSCO official.
In such cases, the companies had secured licences for product without disclosing its ingredients, the official added.
The move comes in the backdrop of recent reports of cancer-causing ingredients being detected in a baby shampoo manufactured by Johnson & Johnson in Rajasthan.
The new norm requires the manufacturers to submit the name, specification and the function of each ingredient.“Any cosmetic product applied on the skin has to have only acceptable and approved substances as these chemicals mix with the bloodstream,” said Yogesh Marfatia, member of the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists.