Following an alert from the European Union, Mozambican authorities burned 10,000 cosmetic products that pose a “potential risk” to health.
Shower gels, shampoos, creams, and sprays are among the items available.
According to the authorities, they contain substances that can cause cancer, as well as being harmful to reproductive health and possibly causing infertility.
According to Sheila Mercis, an inspector at the country’s medicines regulatory authority, the EU issued a warning against the products in early September (Anarme).
“By incinerating, we guarantee that there will be no [harmful]products for sale in the market,” said Paulo Aguiar, a director of Medis Moçambique, which is owned by the Portuguese pharmaceutical group Azevedos.
According to Medis, the manufacturers have already submitted new formulas of the affected cosmetics to Anarme for approval, so that they can be imported again “without the harmful substances.”
“All European manufacturers have already withdrawn the [harmful]substance.” “These substances will not be present in the next batches,” Mr. Aguiar stated.
