Cosmetic Industry Will Soon Lose Its Freedom Of The Wild Ass

Research

National Medicines Regulatory (NMR)Act would be revised shortly and the revision would definitely give wider power to regulate cosmetics industry here thus strict actions would be taken against those who did not follow the guidelines given by the Act, a senior medical officer said.

Speaking at the symposium organised by the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) titled `Cosmetics, plastics, and processed food: Are We killing ourselves?”, Dr. Sriyani Samaraweera, Consultant Dermatologist, Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, said they saw heavy metals being widely used in cosmetics even now, due to the delays at the Legal Draftsman in whetting the revised legislation. She however expressed confidence that the new Act would come into force within months when parliament approved it.She said that the amendments of the act would also include revisions on penalties on those who violated the NMRA act. Dr. Samaraweera also believes that cosmetic regulation is not an easy task with number of gray areas and due to legal restrictions they cannot go further at present, however, with the new Act they will have more teeth to tackle the issue. Responding to queries, Dr. Hemantha Herath, Specialist in Community Medicine, National TB Control Programme said he strongly believed that sugar and salt intake especially among children should be restricted. He said additives like MSG in higher doses would have a negative impact on taste buds

Mono Sodium Glutamate is a flavor enhancer commonly added to Chinese food, canned vegetables, soups and processed meats. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified MSG as a food ingredient that’s “generally recognized as safe,” but its use remains controversial, Dr. Herath warned. Consultant Dermatologist Homagama Base Hospital Dr. Indira Kahawita who is also the President of Sri College of Dermatologists said that in comparison to 1985 and 2010, cancer among men had increased three fold and among women by two fold. Sharing her own experience, she said that within 27 months she found 26 skin cancer patients. She said that the use of perinea talc among young children leads to ovarian cancer. She also said that whitening creams should not be used during pregnancy or when planning pregnancy and vitamin A is not recommended during pregnancy Lecturer and Clinical Geneticist, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Jayewardenepura, Dr. Sajith Edirisinghe said that micro plastic was everywhere as it was in the air. “It could be in the meat or in tea bag,” he added.