Drug firm bucks BFAD recall of whitening products

The distributor of Lucida-DS whitening product and Vaniderm dietary supplement questioned yesterday the basis of the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) in withdrawing certain batches of these products from the market.

According to United Shelter Health Products, BFAD must reveal the “methodology and reference standards” that it used in testing their products leading to the recall order it issued the other week.

In a statement, the company said the findings of Adamson University Technology Research and Development Council (AUTRDC) concur with the findings of the United States’ Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).

United Shelter noted that based on the FDA findings, the two products had the “correct 500 mg (milligram) glutathione content as stipulated in their labels.”

AUTRDC found out that Lucida-DS contains 514.72 mg of glutathione while Vaniderm has 498.69 mg.

United Shelter added that BFAD based the recall order on the alleged findings of the Ateneo-based Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry (PIPAC).

PIPAC found that the glutathione content of Lucida-DS was only 5.4 mg while Vaniderm was at 4.5 mg.

In its recall order, BFAD said Lucida-DS products with lot number 168015L and Vaniderm products with lot number 168015V must be recalled because of insufficient levels of glutathione “that they purport to posses.”

BFAD also recalled Glutalife dietary supplement products with batch number 20078019 for the same reason.