Havering Council trading standards remove thousands of illegal skin lightening products.

Havering Council’s trading standards team have taken a number of illegal skin lightening products off the borough’s streets.

Following an investigation which included a number of test purchase visits, the Council’s trading standards officers, along with enforcement and police officers, raided a Romford business recently.

They seized 1,400 skin lightening items which included soaps, serums, creams, and lotions. All of these products are non-compliant with UK regulations or are illegal to sell within the UK.

The estimated retail value of the products is around £21,000.

Some of the products are known to be unsafe and contain banned ingredients such as mercury, hydroquinone, and corticosteroids, all of which are known to have extremely harmful side effects.

The trading standards team will continue its investigation into these skin lighteners by organising further samples of the seized items to be safety tested as well as requesting further information from the trader.

The business cannot be named at this time due to the ongoing investigations. If convicted, there will be a fine and the risk of possible imprisonment for those responsible for the breach.

Councillor Ray Morgon, Leader of Havering Council, said:

“This is fantastic work by our trading standards and enforcement officers working in partnership with the police.

“Any business in our borough found selling products that are harmful and breach regulations, are treated extremely seriously by the Council and like this example, are thoroughly investigated by our officers.

“We regularly make test-purchase visits to businesses to help make sure our residents and customers are kept safe.”

Support Local Journalism
We at The Havering Daily appreciate your support of quality journalism. Your generous donation, no matter the size, allows us to continue bringing unbiased and informative news to the community. Your contribution helps us maintain our independence and allows us to continue providing high-quality journalism. Thank you for valuing the work we do and for supporting our mission

Thank you

Stay up to date with all of our latest updates and content by following us on our social media accounts!

We have created community pages where we will share our up-to-date stories happening in the area. Add the area closest to where you live.