Tung Fang Mei Enterprise Co Ltd (東方美), the local agent for Japanese cosmetics brand Kanebo, said it has taken 12 products off the nation’s shelves after Kanebo announced a recall yesterday.
Kanebo recalled 54 skin-whitening products across Asia after complaints they caused discoloring that does not clear up even after use of the products was discontinued.
The products contain a substance called Rhododendrol, or 4HPB, a synthetic version of a natural compound that the firm developed, Kanebo said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan is the largest overseas market for the products, a Kanebo spokesman in Japan told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Consumers in Taiwan who have bought the 12 products can return them in exchange for other products until Aug. 10, Tung Fang Mei said in a statement.
It said that sales of the product were being suspended only to allay customer concerns and not because the products were problematic.
Questions have not been raised about the ingredient in any market except Japan, the statement said.
“Some consumers complained that they had white patches on their skin after using the products, and we suspect a link between the condition and 4HPB,” a Kanebo spokeswoman in Japan said.
Taiwan’s Department of Health said there have been no reports of irritation from consumers.
Major department store chains — Pacific Sogo Department Stores Co (太平洋崇光百貨), Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store Co (新光三越百貨), and Far Eastern Department Stores Co (遠東百貨) — have said they will help customers who want to return the 12 products.
A Kanebo company spokesman later told AFP the company had received 39 complaints from customers in Japan since May. Fifteen had shown no improvement in their conditions even after they stopped using the products, he said.
“The problem was initially thought to be a type of skin disease, but there was a growing concern the condition could be linked to 4HPB,” which led the company to recall the products, the spokesman said.
The company has shipped a total of 4.36 million products in Japan and is recalling 450,000 that have already been sold, as well as all inventory from the Japanese market.
A total of 370,000 items have been sent to overseas markets, but at present Kanebo only plans to recall items that are on sale.
The sales suspended by Tung Fang Mei include products in the Blanchir Superior series — White Deep Clear Conditioner, White Deep Milky Conditioner and White Deep Night Conditioner — and those in the Impress series — Impress IC White Lotion, Impress IC White Emulsion, Impress IC White Fit Mask 3D and Impress Granmula Lotion.
The recall also covers Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS