In September 2011, the FDA issued its first official warning to Brazilian Blowout, the manufacturers of the Brazilian Blowout Acai Professional Smoothing Solution, calling for the manufacturers to change the labeling of the product to better reflect the harmful nature of the Brazilian Blowout. The product manufacturers recently announced a settlement in California that is in accordance with the requirements of the September warning from the FDA.
The settlement requires the makers of the Brazilian Blowout to cease all deceptive advertising practices, which in September were described as mislabeling that did not correctly reflect the danger of the product and that provided improper directions for use. In addition, the recent settlement requires the Brazilian Blowout manufacturers to put caution stickers on their products that advise consumers that the product releases formaldehyde gas. The inhalation of formaldehyde, which is a primary route of exposure to the chemical, was one of the primary issues raised by the FDA in September.
This settlement is the first comprehensive, enforceable action by the U.S. government authorities to address the formaldehyde exposures that occur with this product, according to California Attorney General Kamala Harris’s office. The settlement was made between the manufacturers of the Brazilian Blowout Acai Professional Smoothing Solution and Ms. Harris’s office, according to published reports.
While the settlement is the first to require the company to change its labeling and advertising practices, the warnings are the maximum penalty that could be achieved under the law.
“We commend the California Attorney General’s office for accomplishing what no other government agency in the U.S. has been able to do: force Brazilian Blowout to be honest with salons about the risk of their products,” said Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. “We are also proud that this lawsuit was the first legal action taken by the state under the authority of the California Safe Cosmetics Act of 2005, which forces companies to publicly disclose the presence of cancer-causing chemicals in cosmetics sold in the state. But the legal settlement, while helpful, is not enough to protect the public. The FDA must now follow through on its threat to seize these dangerous hair-straightening products.”
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a group of more than 150 non-profit organizations dedicated to eliminating dangerous chemicals from cosmetics, is working in conjunction with the National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance to ask the FDA to remove Brazilian Blowout products from the marketplace and to ban formaldehyde from all hair products. For more information, please visit https://safecosmetics.org/ and https://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/cosmetics/Pages/default.aspx.
