New FDA rules change the way cosmetic brands do business

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — New requirements from the FDA could impact your medicine cabinet, your shower routine and even your skin. 
The rules will change the way cosmetic brands do business. Registrar Corp cofounder and president David Lennarz calls them a long time coming.  
“There’s only been voluntary requirements for the cosmetics industry essentially since the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, since 1938,” Lennarz said. 
There are now five things companies must do to comply with the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act.
Companies must now register their facilities with the FDA, list each marketed cosmetic product, including product ingredients and provide updates and provide a way on packaging for consumers to report adverse effects. 
“The third thing is, and this kicked in already, is companies have to now provide on packaging a way for a consumer to easily report an adverse event. So this can be as simple as a QR code, it could be a URL and essentially brand owners have to be able to capture that information from a consumer,” Lennarz said. 
Other requirements include maintaining records to ensure a product’s safety and alerting the FDA to report any adverse side effects. The FDA tracked 5,000 adverse effects just last year alone. 
“They actually have to then submit that information to FDA. And typically then they would have to make and determine if they should be recalling a product, and, you know, trying to protect the consumers, us,” Lennarz said.
The FDA is now enforcing these rules.
“This has been, you know, really the Wild West, with, you know, thousands and thousands of products out there, many that we all use that have been very loosely regulated up until now,” Lennarz said.