Omey was Punished for Publishing Misleading Product Advertisements

Recently, Omey was fined because it said that there was hyaluronic acid in the product during its promotion, but the ingredient list showed that it was actually sodium hyaluronate in the product. The industry has long been accustomed to equating the two in publicity and even filing, but this is obviously not desirable.

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On June 28, China Standard Time, CHAILEEDO learned through the official website of the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation that Shanghai Omey Co., Ltd. conducting false or misleading propaganda was fined 448.8 US dollars by the Shanghai Jing'an District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau a few days ago.

According to the report, on December 7, 2021, Shanghai Jing'an District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau received a report that Omey falsely advertised products in its e-commerce store "Omey Flagship Store".

After investigation, on November 19, 2021, Omey released the product page of "Saeve serum botanique hydratant apaisant" on the "Omey Flagship Store" that said it provided 1000 times deep hydration with hyaluronic acid extracted from plants. According to the paper Physiological Functions of Hyaluronic Acid and Its Application in Cosmetics and Food of Beauty and Health Care provided by Omey, hyaluronic acid molecules can absorb and retain water about 1000 times their own weight.

Therefore, the Jing'an District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Shanghai believes that the advertisements on the above-mentioned pages may easily lead consumers to misunderstand that the products contain pure and stable hyaluronic acid. According to relevant laws and regulations, Omey was finally fined 448.8 US dollars.

Public information shows that hyaluronic acid, also known as "Hyaluronan", is an acidic mucopolysaccharide. It was first extracted from the vitreous body of the bull's eye, and human skin also contains a large amount of hyaluronic acid; sodium hyaluronate is a kind of glucuronic acid that is first extracted from cockscomb, and can also be obtained by fermentation of enterococcus faecalis, and is in the form of white or off-white granules or powder. Both hyaluronic acid and sodium hyaluronate can be used in cosmetics, and their main functions are moisturizing.

A famous Chinese expert in skin care called Bing Han also said that Hyaluronic acid is an acid, and sodium hyaluronate is the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid. The chemical structure of the two is the same. Sodium hyaluronate is derived from hyaluronic acid and contains the main functional groups and skeleton structures of hyaluronic acid. From the perspective of skin care effects, the two have similar moisturizing effects.

In fact, in the production process of cosmetics, there are many phenomena in that cosmetic companies equate sodium hyaluronate with hyaluronic acid. On the cosmetics supervision APP, CHAILEEDO searched for the keyword "hyaluronic acid" and found that the names of many products were named "hyaluronic acid", but the ingredients marked in the ingredient list were all "sodium hyaluronate". For example, Korea IBL Hyaluronic Acid Mask, Korea CAPSTAY Hyaluronic Acid Mask, Germany Natura Balance Hyaluronic Acid Hand Cream, China STITH Hyaluronic Acid Stock Solution...

It can be seen that, whether it is an international brand or a Chinese brand, there are cases where "sodium hyaluronate" is listed in the ingredient list, but the product name is named after "hyaluronic acid".

According to insiders of this industry, mixing hyaluronic acid and sodium hyaluronate is the norm in the cosmetics industry. The main reason for mixing the two is that their moisturizing effects are highly overlapping.

However, according to the requirements of the Administrative Measures for Cosmetics Labeling, if cosmetics use specific raw material names or words indicating the raw material categories, they should be consistent with the product's formula ingredients, and the efficacy of the raw materials in the product should be consistent with their claims of the product efficacy.

The product name is the "shop front" of cosmetics, and it is an important factor in promoting the efficacy of the product and conveying the image of the product. The punishment of Omey not only signals that the disorderly naming of cosmetics enterprises will be rectified but also shows that the Chinese regulatory authorities will be more and more strict in the standardization and rectification of cosmetics naming.