Another SPF Protection Controversy

More than a dozen sunscreens marketed in Australia failed to meet their SPF 50 label claim. Choice, a consumer group in Australia, tested 20 popular sunscreens and found that 16 of them did not meet their SPF 50 label claim. One formula had an SPF 4, according to Choice. At least eight of those tests were performed by Princeton Consumer Research, which returned significantly higher SPF results than the Choice testing.

Red flags were raised when the tested sunscreens showed little variation in results. Just two SPF numbers were recorded: SPF 60 and SPF 67.20.

One of the lab’s principal investigators, PCR Technical Director Barrie Drewitt, defended the results.

While conceding the uniformity of SPF values was “uncommon,” he told the Australian Broadcast Company it was “not inherently implausible, particularly with high-performing products and consistent application across a controlled test environment.”

Happi contacted PCR, but did not receive a response.

For the record, the four brands that passed the Choice test are:

• Cancer Council Kids Sunscreen SPF 50+ passed with a reported SPF of 52
• La Roche-Posay Anthelios Wet Skin Sunscreen 50+ passed with a reported SPF of 72
• Mecca Cosmetica To Save Body SPF 50+ Hydrating Sunscreen passed with a reported SPF of 51
• Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Lotion SPF 50 passed with a reported SPF of 56

One of the brands in question questioned the ABC results. Ultra Violette published two of its own tests conducted by PCR — one commissioned immediately after the Choice investigation, as well as its original testing. Both had SPF values above 60. The Therapeutic Goods Association is investigating Choice’s findings and will take “regulatory action as required.”

Previous Testing Issues

This isn’t the first time that an SPF testing claim controversy roiled the sunscreen market. In 2022, Gabriel Letizia Jr. was sentenced to 60 months in prison for defrauding customers of his testing company and causing misbranded drugs to be introduced into interstate commerce. Letizia previously pleaded guilty before a US Magistrate Judge.

Letizia was the owner and executive director of AMA Laboratories, Inc. (“AMA”), a consumer product testing company in Rockland County, New York. Letizia began operating AMA in the early 1980s, and became its sole owner in approximately 2003. AMA went out of business in 2020.