KEY POINTS:
Two more sunscreens have failed to meet their sun protection (SPF) claims, a Consumer NZ test has found.
Consumer NZ, which commissioned the testing, wants Cancer Society Roll-On Sunscreen SPF 30+ and Australian-made SunSense Ultra SPF 30+ recalled.
A third sunscreen, the Cancer Society's sunscreen with insect repellent SPF 30+ failed its broad spectrum claim and should also be recalled, Consumer chief executive Sue Chetwin said.
But Cancer Society chief executive Dalton Kelly has taken issue with the Australian testing regime which has failed the products.
"We've been concerned for some months now that the testing regime for testing sunscreens in Australia is not satisfactory," he told NZPA today.
Mr Kelly said the Cancer Society had taken the issue to the Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA), the Australian regulatory body, which was "very concerned" and was investigating.
Earlier this year, the Commerce Commission reached settlements with four sunscreen companies that admitted misleading consumers about the sun protection offered by their products.
The commission investigated and tested four product ranges after complaints laid by the Cancer Society, which said it was misleading under the Fair Trading Act for the products to claim to provide all day protection with just one application of the sunscreen.
Ms Chetwin today said it was "most disappointing" to find that more Cancer Society sunscreens failed to meet their label claims.
"This could give consumers a false sense of security about their protection against harmful UV radiation," she said.
The SunSense sunscreen reached an average SPF of 25.5 in the tests and the Cancer Society Roll-On Sunscreen reached an average 28.5 SPF.
The Australian/New Zealand standard for sunscreens is not compulsory here, though it is in Australia. Consumer is urging the Government to reclassify sunscreens as therapeutic products rather than cosmetics, so any claims about protection have to be supported by test evidence.
Cancer Society products make up 60 per cent of the sunscreens sold here. Three of its products have now failed to meet their label claims.
"We think the society needs to take manufacturing standards for its products much more seriously," Ms Chetwin said.
Mr Kelly said the society had tested all 10 of its products in the two testing laboratories in Sydney.
"We've got a pass test result for every product, but we've also got some failures. There's no consistency at all - it's not one laboratory that passes them all the time, and the other one failing them. There's no rhyme nor reason to it."
He said Australian sunscreen manufacturers had to be licensed by the TGA, and were then audited on a regular basis.
"But the testing facilities, where all the credibility comes from, they don't have to be tested and they're not licensed. Nobody's testing the testers.
"We want what's best for New Zealanders, and they certainly deserve a lot better than what they're getting at the moment."
- NZPA
