Ghana to ban skin bleaching creams next year

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has served notice of an imminent ban on cosmetic products containing skin bleaching ingredient, hydroquinone.

The ban, which takes effect from August 2016, is in accordance with a directive from the Ghana Standard Authority (GSA).

James Lartey, Head of communications at the FDA who disclosed this at a public forum in Ho, noted that his outfit currently permits, products that contain up to 2 percent hydroquinone into the Ghanaian market.

But from August 2016, such products will not be permitted based on a new regulation set by the Ghana Standard Authority.

“Concerning skin lightening products, we are saying that from August 2016, all products containing hydroquinone will not be allowed into the country. From 2016 the acceptance for skin lightening products is going to be zero,” Lartey told Starr News’s Lambert Atsivor in an interview.

Hydroquinone products are marketed for their skin-lightening properties in Asian and African cosmetics markets, according to the U.S Food and Drugs Administration.

But a research conducted revealed that hydroquinone may act as a carcinogen or cancer-causing chemical, hence its ban in the European Union, Japan, Australia and the United States, a couple of years ago.


Source:Ghana/StarrFMonline.com/103.5FM