AQSIQ: Excessive lead detected in L’Occitane exfoliant

The Danwei Bulletin May 16, 2013

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Chinese media last week reported that the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) announced that they had detected excessive amounts of lead in a foreign skin care product: “Almond Delicious Paste”, a skincare exfoliant product sold by the French company L’Occitane en Provence. L’Occitane is a Hong Kong-listed French company.

AQSIQ said that tested samples of “Almond Delicious Paste” contained lead in excess of the 0.04 mg/g standard. The test results were included in AQSIQ’s regular quarantine list. This issue of the list, published in early May but covering the month of March, included 156 imported food products and nine imported cosmetics products. L’Occitane’s high domestic profile made it the media focus in China. The company blamed the problem on the presence of naturally-occurring lead in kaolin, one of the product’s ingredients that a supplier had not properly analyzed. However, it also said that it had already recalled the product when it identified the problem in December 2012, and could not account for the source of the March 2013 imports.

Companies and brands affected
L’Occitane en Provence (HKG:0973)

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