A shopper tries on makeup at a department store in central Seoul on Jan. 29, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s drug safety ministry said Monday it has asked the Korea Cosmetics Association and the Korea Communications Commission to prevent access to and remove 155 online cosmetics advertisements that make claims about their effectiveness, like aiding with ‘diet’ or ‘body shape maintenance’.
The ministry also requested that administrative bodies overseeing the companies’ locations take actions like conducting inspections and imposing administrative penalties.
Between April 24 and 28, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety examined 322 related advertisements.
It found instances where cosmetics, which are typically intended for cleaning, beautifying, or supporting skin and hair health, were being promoted and sold as if they were medicines meant to prevent or treat diseases.
Out of the 155 identified ads, 147 (about 94.84 percent) used wording that could be misconstrued as medical claims.
These terms included phrases like “lipolysis,” “reducing body fat,” “treating inflammation and body fat,” “destroying cellulite,” “reducing cholesterol,” and “discharging toxins from the body.”
The remaining eight cases (about 5.16 percent) were considered to fall outside the realm of cosmetics and were likely to lead consumers astray.
These claims included ideas like ‘increasing breast fat cells’, ‘enlarging breasts’, ‘promoting metabolism of subcutaneous fat’, and ‘lifting double chins’.
The ministry underscored that it has never reviewed or acknowledged the effectiveness of cosmetics for purposes like weight loss or breast enlargement.
It emphasized that cosmetics have only a mild impact on the body, and advertisements making strong claims about body improvement are deceptive and unfair to consumers. These claims should not be trusted.
The ‘Private Advertising Verification Team’, operated by the ministry to objectively assess misleading online labeling and advertising of medical products, also stated that expecting effects like reducing body fat or losing weight through cosmetics containing specific ingredients like garcinia is not backed by strong scientific evidence.
Thus, individuals should exercise extra caution when encountering such claims.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
