NTEF to Clarins USA - Stop Using Peanut Ingredients Without Warning Notices

June 17, 2008 - PRLog -- The National Toxic Encephalopathy Foundation (NTEF) is publicly asking Clarins:  When are you going to start implementing warnings to consumers that you are incorporating peanut related ingredients in your cosmetics?

In October of 2006, the NTEF became aware of three products with various peanut ingredients, now there are seven that we are questioning. Clarins removed peanuts in some products and incorporated them into newer products. The products are:

Body Firming Cream
Extra Firming Day Cream Special for Dry Skin
After Sun Replenishing Moisture Care for Face
Clarins Aromatic Plant Day Cream (All Skin Types)
Moisture Quenching Hydra-Balance Cream
Sun Control Stick, Very High Protection
Extra-Comfort Toning Lotion for Dry or Sensitized Skin

The French refer to peanuts as groundnuts and do not equate them with any allergic reactions or health risks. If Clarins, a French corporation, does not recognize peanuts as an allergy, how can they label for sale in the United States these products claiming that they are “allergy tested”?

Most people who are concerned about peanut allergies are accustomed to the federal requirement to have the allergen visibly noticeable on the box. The major problem we have determined is that consumers predominately throw out the boxes that products come in.  Without a notification on both the box and possibly on the actual product consumers are left in the dark.

The Food and Drug Administration who oversees cosmetics and since peanuts create a known health risk, without proper notification regarding peanuts they can be construed as mislabeled and as such are would be in violation of federal law.

Following either ingestion or inhalation, a person with peanut allergies can experience a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. This can lead to:

-constricted airways in the lungs
-severe lowering of blood pressure and shock ("anaphylactic shock")
-suffocation by swelling of the throat

Each year in the U.S., it is estimated that anaphylaxis to food results in:
-30,000 emergency room visits
-2,000 hospitalizations
-150 deaths [1]  

Clarins:  Beauty should be not harmful to anyone, please label accordingly- NTEF

For further information on discrepancies regarding Clarins, visit:  Clarins-Info.Com

[1]  Food Allergies What You Need to Know http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/ffalrgn.html

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National Toxic Encephalopathy Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) and 509(a)(1) non-profit   public charity organization, whose core purposes are to provide research, education and services to the growing segment of the population who are adversely affected by everyday chemicals and toxins in our environment.

Established in 1998.