Officials in Jiangsu's capital have seized fake cosmetics worth tens of millions of yuan during a raid on a beauty salon storeroom, the local Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced yesterday.

The products include 353 boxes of Type A Botulinum Toxin (BTX-A) injections and hundreds of boxes of placenta or silica gel tissue fluid, said Deputy Director Chen Suli.

The products claim to be able to remove wrinkles and make human faces look fairer.

The salon, called "Communicative Association of Cosmetology and Modelling," is situated in the downtown area of Nanjing. It has been shut down for further investigation, and three staff have been arrested.

FDA launched the surprise check on the beauty saloon following a tip-off. It had not received a license from the local industrial, commercial or hygiene bureaus, said Cheng.

Products confiscated generally had fake information, or none at all, about producers and ingredients.

The FDA highlighted one example, which they called "spun gold," as being a particularly dangerous product and highly illegal. Lines of solid gold are implanted under the skin, which is claimed to remove wrinkles for up to five years. The salon reportedly charged 960,000 yuan (US$120,000) for this treatment.

According to neighbouring businesses the salon had been busy since it opened in March, but no receipts or invoices could be found. This has made the police's task of tracking down further suspects difficult.

A hotline has been set up by the local FDA for customers of the saloon, encouraging them to report their health situation and have their health checked in designated hospitals.

However, so far nobody has called.

"The side effects of using fake products may take a long time to come to the surface. And people also worry that they will be embarrassed if their friends find out what has happened," said Cheng.

Medical experts said that the use of fake cosmetics may lead to serious nerve and skin problems, as well as possible complete or partial muscle paralysis, eye problems and even brain damage.

"For example, licensed hospitals and beauty saloons have sophisticated machines to store and proportion BTX-A, which is a poisonous material that could kill people if the dose is too high. It will endanger patients' lives without careful handling," said Huang Jinlong, dean of the Medical Modelling and Cosmetology Department of Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Medicine.

Huang said that these days women are willing to pay big money for a better look. A lack of industry regulations and a spate of fake products and misleading advertisements have led to complaints and disputes.

Both Huang and Cheng urged that relevant governmental bureaus should tighten supervision on the manufacturing, sales and hygienic quality of cosmetic products to better protect the interests of consumers.

Source: China Daily