00:00In a statement directly to its customers today, essentially what Ultraviolet had to say boiled
00:08down to the fact that it can't guarantee what the SPF of that product actually is.
00:14You'll probably remember that this all kicked off earlier this year when consumer group
00:18Choice decided to test 20 popular sunscreens and 16 of them failed to meet the SPF on the
00:24label claim.
00:25Now, a bunch of sunscreens came in in the 40s and the 30s and the 20s, but this particular
00:30sunscreen came back, as you say, with an SPF of just four.
00:35So after defending its sunscreen and the testing that it had done to make sure that the SPF
00:40was what it said it was, Ultraviolet committed to go away and do some further testing.
00:46Today it's come back and said that it has done a range of tests and it now has eight sets
00:51of results which range from SPF 4 to SPF 64 and that that's an unacceptable variability.
00:59And so it had taken the decision to take that sunscreen, to withdraw that sunscreen from
01:03the market effective immediately.
01:06It also comes after an ABC investigation that found that eight of those sunscreens that didn't
01:11meet their label claims all had something in common, which is they had gone to the same
01:15overseas lab to get their original SPF tests done.
01:19And Ultraviolet has told the ABC that it will no longer be using that lab, nor will it be
01:24using the manufacturer that made that sunscreen.
01:26And it's also been very careful to point out that it is only this sunscreen in its line that's
01:31been affected, not its other sunscreens.
01:34And so the TGA is already looking into this.
01:39They've said that they're investigating the choice testing and that they will take regulatory
01:43action as required.
01:44We've checked in with them.
01:45They've said that they're aware of the recall, that they are involved in working with the
01:50company on that recall, but ultimately their investigation into this issue continues.
01:54Rachel, what should people do if they've been using this particular ultraviolet sunscreen?
02:00Well, the company says that people who have purchased it can get a refund and that, as
02:07I said to you before, it's taken these other measures.
02:09It's going to increase its testing kind of regularity of all of its products.
02:14It's going to stop using this testing lab.
02:17But essentially people who have used this sunscreen will get a refund and the whole thing will
02:22be withdrawn from the market.
02:24The TGA and other organisations like the Melanoma Institute are very keen for Australian consumers
02:29to keep using sunscreen despite these recent test results and despite this recall.
02:33A lot of those that didn't meet their label claim were in the 20s and 30s and they're
02:38keen for people to know that those sunscreens still do provide a significant degree of protection
02:44from the sun and therefore skin cancer and should still be used in conjunction with other
02:48sun safety measures.
02:49As you mentioned, Consumer Group Choice did the testing originally.
02:54Has it responded today?
02:57They have said, Choice has said that this announcement from ultraviolet today shows that there is a
03:03clear problem with regulation and SPF testing of sunscreen products that are available in Australia
03:09today.
03:10They've taken the opportunity to point out that had it not been for their testing, this product
03:13would still be on the shelves today.
03:15They have given the TGA a nudge themselves saying the TGA needs to give an urgent update
03:21on what it's doing and I think it's important to note that the TGA is the regulator in this
03:26space and that's where we need to be looking to see what's going to happen next.
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