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February 13, 2018

French NGO Claims Many Manufacturers Fail to Comply with Nano Labeling Requirement

Lynn L. Bergeson Carla N. Hutton

UFC-Que Choisir, a French non-governmental organization (NGO), announced on January 23, 2018, that it filed complaints against nine manufacturers of food and cosmetic products for failure to comply with the requirement to report the presence of nanomaterials on the product label.  UFC-Que Choisir states that its analysis covered 20 consumer products (seven food products, nine cosmetics, and four drugs) and targeted titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, iron oxide, zinc oxide, and carbon black.  The NGO tested the products for the presence of nanomaterials and then checked the product packaging for reference to nanomaterials.  According to UFC-Que Choisir, all the food and cosmetic products contained nanoparticles, but most labels failed to reflect their presence.  In addition to the complaints filed, UFC-Que Choisir requests that the Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes (DGCCRF) and the Ministry of Economy publish a list of food and cosmetic products containing nanomaterials that fail to meet the labeling requirement, prosecute manufacturers that violate the labeling requirement, and continue to monitor compliance.