Cosmetics Alliance Canada and its members share the view that cosmetics and personal care products must be safe from both a human health and environmental perspective when used as intended.
Specifically in Canada, Health Canada regulates cosmetics and other personal care products under the Food and Drugs Act and its Cosmetic, Food and Drug, and Natural Health Product Regulations. Ingredients used in cosmetics and other personal care products are also subject to review under Canada’s world-leading Chemicals Management Plan. As such, it is illegal to sell cosmetics or other personal care products that would cause harm when used as intended.
Cosmetics and personal care products are subject to at least three levels of scrutiny as to their safety for use by consumers.
- Ingredient suppliers have a legal obligation to ensure the safety of the substances they produce for their intended purpose.
- Manufacturers have this same obligation to safety when blending ingredients to produce finished products.
- Governments have created various regulatory requirements imposed by law as a further safeguard of consumer safety.
In Canada, government regulation is specifically provided by Health Canada based on the most current scientific knowledge and information. By law, cosmetics and personal care products cannot contain ingredients or quantities of ingredients that can cause injury to human health.Health Canada also maintains a list of prohibited or restricted ingredients that is updated regularly. Furthermore, the ingredients and their formulation for each cosmetic and personal care product must be filed with Health Canada by the manufacturer. This allows Health Canada to review new products and maintain a national database that can be used to contact suppliers if and when new information regarding risk should become known.
The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) is also an important resource for safe use information and is used by regulators and the industry worldwide. The CIR provides an independent assessment of cosmetic and personal care product ingredients on a risk-priority basis and publishes its findings in peer-reviewed scientific literature. Based on the very latest knowledge available, manufacturers work with ingredient suppliers to ensure that the ingredients they are producing are safe.
In addition, Cosmetic Alliance Canada member companies have actively supported Health Canada’s requirements to ensure ingredient labelling on all cosmetics and personal care product packaging as well as the implementation of internationally recognized ingredient names.These initiatives help to ensure that consumers, their healthcare providers and scientists are able to correctly identify product ingredients no matter where they are manufactured.
Click here for additional information on how Health Canada regulates cosmetics and personal care products in Canada. For additional information on the ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products, please visit www.cosmeticsinfo.org. It is important to note that this website references U.S. regulations and not Canadian. However, this website is a great resource overall for specific safety information about cosmetics and personal care products, their ingredients and how they are tested.