CTFA Statement on Cosmetic Safety


The health, beauty, and safety of our customers is the top priority of the cosmetics industry.  Cosmetic companies work with leading scientific and medical experts and invest millions of dollars in sophisticated laboratory equipment and facilities to ensure the safety of our products.         

In addition to our industry’s commitment to safety, federal law requires that every cosmetic product be substantiated for safety before it goes to market.  As a result, FDA statistics confirm that cosmetics are one of the safest categories of products used by Americans today.

The cosmetic industry initiated 30 years ago the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), an independent, nonprofit, scientific body that assesses the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics.  The panel consists of world-renowned physicians and scientists who are publicly nominated by consumer, scientific and medical groups, government agencies and industry. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Consumer Federation of American (CFA) and CTFA provide non-voting liaisons to the panel and are involved in the comment and discussion process as scientific research on ingredients is reviewed.  Thousands of scientific studies have been done on cosmetics and their ingredients, and based on these studies, our industry and the CIR determine that these products, whether used once or over a lifetime, are safe before they are sold to consumers.

Our industry also expresses its commitment to consumer safety through our Consumer Commitment Code which goes beyond the requirements of the law and is substantively more stringent than any third-party code could ever be.  For example, our member companies have committed to participate in the FDA’s voluntary reporting program and have reported thousands of formulas with FDA. Our Code shows the proactive and responsible approach to product safety demonstrated by cosmetics companies that voluntarily open their scientific data and information to FDA scrutiny.

CTFA’s Consumer Commitment Code goes beyond existing law by recommending:

(1) that safety substantiation information be made available for inspection by the FDA;

(2) making available a Safety Information Summary on product and ingredient safety for products marketed in the U.S. to FDA on request; and

(3) the reporting of any serious and unexpected adverse consumer experiences with products.