Vietnam’s Drug Administration under the Ministry of Health has ordered the suspension of circulation, recall, and destruction of two cosmetic product batches: Xmen for Boss Intense perfumed body wash (180g bottle), batch number D46, with an expiry date of July 30, 2028, and Botanika kitchen hand-protection hand wash (500g bottle), batch number 706, expiring on October 10, 2028.
Both products were manufactured and distributed by Marico South East Asia Joint Stock Company.
Earlier, the National Institute of Drug Quality Control collected samples of the products during routine inspections at BRG Mart supermarket, located at 120 Hang Trong Street in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem District.
Laboratory testing found that the products contained Sodium Benzoate, a preservative that had not been declared by the company in the product formula submitted to regulatory authorities.
Inspectors also found discrepancies between the actual concentration levels of preservatives Methylchloroisothiazolinone and Methylisothiazolinone and the percentages declared in the approved product dossiers. The Drug Administration concluded that the circulating products did not match the formulations registered with regulators.
The agency has instructed Marico South East Asia to immediately notify distributors and retailers of the recall, collect all affected products from the market for destruction, and submit a recall report before June 25.
The company has also been ordered to review all other production batches of the Xmen for Boss Intense and Botanika product lines, proactively identify and recall any batches with similar violations, and report the results to the Ministry of Health before June 10.
Meanwhile, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has been tasked with supervising the recall and destruction process and revoking the cosmetic product declaration receipt numbers issued for the violating products.
Health departments in provinces and cities nationwide have been instructed to notify businesses and consumers to immediately stop trading and using the affected cosmetic batches and return them to suppliers in accordance with regulations.
Binh Nguyen