Sunscreen brand Ultra Violette pulls popular product off shelf after SPF testing
The popular Australian sunscreen label has announced that it has pulled its Lean Screen product off shelves after its own independent testing returned inconsistent SPF protection results.
Sunscreen brand Ultra Violette is withdrawing one of its popular and well-known products from the market over concerns about its sun protection factor.
The company announced on Friday it is voluntarily withdrawing the product after testing revealed it couldn't guarantee the SPF 50+ on the label.
Testing by consumer group Choice earlier this year found 16 out of 20 popular sunscreen products failed to meet the SPF on their labels.
Choice in Australia tested 20 popular sunscreens on the market. 16 of them failed to meet their SPF claims.
Choice
The worst performer was Ultra Violette's Lean Screen SPF Mattifying Zinc Sunscreen, which came back with an SPF of just 4.
The company strongly defended its SPF testing, publicly releasing the results to certify that it meets its SPF from an overseas testing lab.
It also commissioned another test of the product.
Both of those test reports returned results of above SPF 60.
An ABC Australia investigation revealed serious concerns about the results from the overseas testing lab it used — Princeton Consumer research.
Ultra Violette committed to doing additional testing on its product and has today released those results, many of which failed to meet the SPF 50+.
In a statement it said, "We had multiple independent labs conduct new tests of Lean Screen."
"This week, we received results from those tests that demonstrated significant and, candidly, atypical variability.
"Across eight different tests, Lean Screen has now returned SPF data of 4, 10, 21, 26, 33, 60, 61, and 64."
Results from the company's own testing demonstrated "significant and, candidly, atypical variability".
ABC/Billy Cooper
Speaking directly to its customers, the Ultra Violette statement said, "That wasn't good enough for us, and it isn't good enough for you."
The company announced it is voluntarily withdrawing the product from the market effective immediately and apologised to its big customer base.
"We are deeply sorry that one of our products has fallen short of the standards we pride ourselves on and that you've come to expect of us," the statement said.
The brand was careful to point out the issue did not affect its other products.
"Unlike the majority of our range, Lean Screen was created by a third-party manufacturer and was the only sunscreen they made for us. We will no longer be making any SKINSCREENS™ with that manufacturer."
Princeton Consumer Research has been contacted for comment.
