A Consumer NZ complaint about a sunscreen that failed to meet its label claims has resulted in manufacturer Johnson & Johnson agreeing to only sell products that meet the joint Australian and New Zealand standard.
The decision comes three years after Consumer NZ found the company’s Neutrogena Sensitive Skin SPF60+ sunscreen failed
to provide the very high protection it claimed.
Consumer NZ lodged a complaint with the Commerce Commission.
The commission’s investigation resulted in Johnson & Johnson signing court enforceable undertakings that all its products would now meet the voluntary standard.
Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin said she was pleased with the outcome but wanted all manufacturers to meet the
sunscreen standard.
“We’ve been campaigning for a mandatory standard for years. In a country with one of the highest rates of skin cancer in
the world, it’s not good enough that sunscreens can be sold that don’t meet their label claims,” Ms Chetwin said.
This isn’t the first time Consumer NZ has found differences between its test results and manufacturers’.
In Consumer NZ’s 2017 sunscreen test, six products didn’t meet the SPF claimed on the label. Two other products were
taken off the market because they failed to provide the protection claimed.
For the results of Consumer NZ’s test, see the December/January issue of Consumer or consumer.org.nz.