Abu Dhabi: The municipality is cracking down on illegal beauty products in salons and cosmetic shops to ensure that residents do not purchase harmful products in the run up to Eid.
As part of its annual Ramadan campaign against fake, expired and illegal products, the department of health at Abu Dhabi Municipality intensified the number of inspectors to 39, consisting of 19 men and 20 women.
The health department also warned residents not to use beauty products that that pose a risk to the health and safety of consumers, such as counterfeit weight loss products, or skin whiteners that may contain a high proportion of mercury, which may be bought as part of the Eid preparations.
The authority also warned women not to use black, white or any type of coloured henna to decorate the hands and feet as these types of products can cause severe reactions that include burns, blisters, redness, cuts, loss of pigmentation and even permanent scarring.
The inspection campaigns are carried out every Ramadan to ensure that beauty centres comply with the standard of hygiene, and adhere to the laws and regulations of Abu Dhabi municipality.
An official at Dubai Municipality pointed out that the role of the Public Health Department is not limited to inspection campaigns, but also extends to spreading awareness among beauticians and salon owners.
“Cosmetic and beauty centres are required to enroll their employees in an annual basic health and safety training, while health supervisors responsible for each salon have to attend training every five years,” said the official.
During the campaign, inspectors looked out for products that were not properly labelled, did not have the medical warning written in Arabic and English, contained images that contradicted the values of society, or other products that were either counterfeit or that contained carcinogenic ingredients.
