One in three facial sunscreens does not protect enough, warns L'Ufc-Que Choisir

As summer approaches, Ufc-Que Choisir is warning the French and calling on the authorities to act. After testing 13 facial sun creams labeled SPF 50 or 50 and noting "that a third of these products do not provide the level of protection displayed", the UFC-Que Choisir appealed to the authorities so that they sanction the brands concerned. “In view of the high proportion of potentially misleading labeling, UFC-Que Choisir calls on manufacturers to make their products conform to the displayed indices or, failing that, to withdraw them and reserves the possibility of taking any useful action in justice,” according to a press release published Tuesday.

The association also refers the matter to the General Directorate for Competition and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) “so that it can sanction brands marketing such products, intensify controls on sun protection products and take measures to stop these practice".

The 50 and 50 indices of sun creams “are supposed to provide the highest levels of protection against ultraviolet rays”, specifies the UFC-Que Choisir, whose tests show that “of the 13 creams tested, 5 do not respect the levels expected sun protection. “Four of them only achieve protection corresponding to an index 30,” according to the association, which emphasizes that “it is rare” that it notes “such a proportion of failures, and that they come from brands as well anchored in the landscape as Vichy, Biotherm or Lancaster. The two other brands affected are Isdin and Rituals.

Furthermore, the association “presses the Ministry of the Environment on the need to regulate environmental claims for cosmetic products”. Because, if the vast majority of products tested are “free of compounds undesirable for human health, a large proportion on the other hand (10 out of 13) receive a poor environmental rating due to the presence of components having harmful effects on aquatic organisms”.

Finally, UFC-Que Choisir highlights the “stratospheric prices” of facial sunscreens, “even for brands that are usually not very greedy like Nivea and Yves Rocher”. Within the same brand, the prices per liter of facial sunscreen are at least twice as expensive as body sunscreen, most often three or four times more expensive and even up to seven times more expensive. for “Yves Rocher, who argues that it is also an anti-aging cream”, according to the association.