Shanghai - US consumer products giant Procter and Gamble has pulled its
popular SK-II line of beauty products off the shelf in China, sparking violence
at the company's Shanghai office.
Disgruntled Chinese cosmetic consumers break into Procter and
Gamble's offices in Shanghai, September 22, 2006. The US parent company of
the troubled SK-II cosmetics range pulled the line of beauty products off
the shelf in China, citing health concerns and sparking violent
protests.[AFP] |
An angry group of consumers kicked down the front door of the Procter
and Gamble office only hours after the company said it would stop selling its
Japanese-made SK-II line.
"SK-II is suspending sales of its skin care products line in China and
temporarily closing its SK-II counters," the note posted at a consumer refund
location in Shanghai said.
"While SK-II believes all its products safe, SK-II is taking this action
until its compliance with regulations pertaining to trace levels of chromium and
neodymium in cosmetic products China is fully clarified."
Last week Chinese authorities discovered traces of the two toxic metals in
nine SK-II products including powder, foundation, lotion and cleansing oil
products. Shanghai health officials added three more items to the list Friday.
Liu Meiying, a middle-aged consumer, said that she was furious.
"A multinational should not hide from us but come out and handle this
properly," she said.
More than a dozen women and one man smashed a glass door and raced into
Procter and Gamble's offices on Shanghai's main thoroughfare, Central Huaihai
Road.
No Procter and Gamble employees were in the office at the time. A cleaning
lady said staff had been sent home.
There were no injuries witnessed by reporters.
It was the third day running that tempers have flared over SK-II's products.
On Thursday, hundreds of Shanghai women seeking their money back at specified
locations became infuriated over being made to wait three weeks for the promised
refunds.
Security guards were called in to control a crowd of about 300 people at one
location near a main shopping avenue.
Procter and Gamble said Friday it was suspending refund operations effective
immediately due to security issues.
The company said a hotline had been set up and that all refund requests
submitted by September 21 would be honored. The numbers provided were normally
listed consumer service numbers on its website.
Repeated calls to spokesmen at the company's Guangzhou and Shanghai
operations went unanswered.
Shanghai health authorities said Friday they found chromium and neodymium in
three more SK-II cosmetics -- a facial cleanser, a wrinkle treatment mask and a
whitening product.
Chromium can cause eczema, while neodymium irritates the skin and can damage
the lungs and liver if inhaled.
Procter and Gamble announced last week it would provide a refund after
customs officials in Hong Kong and China's southern Guangdong province said they
would launch an investigation into SK-II products.