Consumers beware of falling into "black technology" scams

Cosmetics merchants put products on quantum labels to attract customers to buy

　　□ Our reporter Han Dandong

　　□ Chen Yiqi, an intern of our newspaper

　　"Quantum skin care claims to use'quantum technology' is definitely fake." During the National People's Congress this year, Pan Jianwei, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, publicly cracked down on counterfeit quantum skin care products in an interview with the media. "Because quantum is relatively fashionable, everyone likes to put a name on it. I think if skin care products are really good, you don’t need to hang Quantum. If you hang up, this is definitely not a particularly good skin care product."

　　It is reported that quantum skin care was first proposed by a domestic cosmetics manufacturing company. It claims to be able to use the vibration principle of quantum mechanics to allow the skin to fully absorb the nutrients in the skin care products, so that the epidermal layer tends to be smooth and penetrates the skin basal layer, thereby Realize the real "freezing age".

　　With the development of social economy and the improvement of people's living standards, consumers are increasingly pursuing novel and efficient skin care products.

Propaganda with quantum and other technologies can make many consumers willing to spend a lot of money to buy, leading more and more cosmetics merchants to label their products as "quantum".

　　In fact, quantum is an important concept of modern physics. It was first proposed by Planck in 1900. He believed that certain physical quantities cannot change continuously but can only change by integer multiples of a certain smallest unit. Then this smallest unit is called quantum.

False concepts emerge endlessly

Technological skin care has become a new trend

　　Recently, a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily entered keywords such as "quantum facial mask", "quantum beauty instrument", and "quantum skin care products" on multiple e-commerce platforms. The search results showed that there are still many quantum products on sale, and the price covers high, medium and low prices. At various price points, most of them maintain a certain sales volume.

　　Ren Yuhan (pseudonym) is a graduate student in a university, often devoted to trying out various novel skin care products. She has used photon skin rejuvenation beauty instrument and salicylic acid mask which is known as "using arabic gum wrapping technology". Skin care products.

"Because I want to get better skin and have spare money, I bought a lot." Ren Yuhan said.

　　In recent years, the cosmetics industry has put forward many nominal "new" concepts, such as EGF (epidermal growth factor), stem cells, and the recently discussed quantum skin care products, in order to sell better and better promote products, but they are all related in the end. Professionals have debunked the essence of its pseudo-concept.

　　In 2017, Hu Xiaobo, a master of microbiology from Fudan University, published an article on the Zhihu platform, "All the "pseudo concepts" in skin care products", saying that the molecular weight of EGF is about 6000, so it is difficult to be absorbed in skin care products.

As a polypeptide, it is also easily degraded and even has the risk of causing cancer.

　　In 2018, the "Dr. Clove" team published an article on "stem cells" stating that no cells can survive in skin care products, not to mention stem cells.

　　In 2019, Guo Guangcan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, publicly stated in a CCTV program that “there is no quantum product currently sold in the market, and all those sold are fake”.

　　In this regard, lawyer Wang Yanhui of Shanghai Hengyanda Law Firm said that the propaganda of this type of concept is false propaganda, and relevant investigations have been carried out across the country for this type of illegal propaganda.

According to the provisions of the Advertising Law, false advertisements include information such as product performance, function, origin, use, quality, specification, composition, price, etc., as well as information related to goods or services, such as promises that are inconsistent with the actual situation, and have a substantial impact on purchase behavior Situation.

　　Zheng Ning, director of the Law Department of the School of Cultural Industry Management of Communication University of China, told the reporter of "Rules of Law Daily" that in fact, many existing laws in my country regulate the pseudo concept of cosmetics. Among them, the "Regulations on Cosmetics Supervision and Administration" stipulates that cosmetics labels are prohibited from indicating or implying medical treatment. Content that is useful, false or misleading, and prohibited by laws and administrative regulations.

　　On December 25, 2019, the "Identification of Cosmetic Illegal Claims and False Propaganda" issued by the State Drug Administration clarified that cosmetics refer to the application of skin, hair, nails, lips and other human surfaces by rubbing, spraying or other similar methods. Daily chemical industrial products for the purpose of cleaning, protecting, beautifying, and modifying have a mild effect and only play an auxiliary role.

For promotional items that have exaggerated effects, explicitly or implicitly have medical effects, or are quite inflammatory, the Food and Drug Administration reminds consumers to treat them rationally.

Cosmetics or adding hormones

Damage to health outweighs the loss

　　According to a person familiar with the matter who once worked in a foreign trade company, the electronic products produced by their company mainly include facial cleansing devices, beauty devices, shoulder and neck massagers, and fascia guns.

"The price of the cleansing device is generally US$7 to US$8, because we are employees, so we can get it for 9.9 yuan, and the cost is definitely cheaper." And from the cost to the price at least 5 times higher Value-added is the result of lower prices due to the large number of local manufacturers in order to enhance competitiveness.

　　Ren Yuhan recalled the cosmetics he had bought, saying that in fact, most of them were paid an IQ tax, which had no practical effect, and some even had the opposite effect.

　　According to Ren Yuhan, she once spent more than 3,000 yuan to buy a dot matrix skin rejuvenation beauty device, which claims to use dot matrix laser technology to damage the surface of the skin first, and then stimulate the growth of the skin surface. Achieve the effect of filling up acne pits.

However, after Ren Yuhan used it, not only did the skin condition not improve, but it also caused new problems.

"I said it was used to treat acne pits. As a result, my skin was bad after I used it up. I now have sensitive skin. My skin becomes red easily and a bit rough." Ren Yuhan said.

　　In this regard, Zheng Ning believes that its adverse reactions need to be identified by a professional appraisal agency, whether it is a product quality problem, a false propaganda problem, or a side effect caused by differences in personal physique.

If it constitutes a false advertisement that is related to the lives and health of consumers, then advertising operators, advertising publishers, and advertising spokespersons should bear joint and several liability with advertisers.

If it is a product quality problem, in accordance with the provisions of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, the operator shall bear civil liability and compensate reasonable expenses for treatment and rehabilitation such as medical expenses, nursing expenses, and transportation expenses, as well as reduced income due to lost work.

　　Wang Yanhui also said that if it can be proved that there is a causal relationship between the skin damage and the beauty instrument provided by the merchant, the merchant can be required to bear the liability for damages.

According to the provisions of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, if a business operator commits fraud in providing goods or services, he shall increase compensation for the losses suffered by consumers in accordance with the requirements of consumers. The increased amount of compensation shall be the third of the price of the goods purchased by the consumer or the cost of receiving the service. Times.

　　During the interview, Zhu, a consumer who has used such products, told the reporter of the Rule of Law Daily that during the winter vacation, relatives gave her a bottle of micro-commerce products, claiming to use quantum technology.

"At the time, I sprayed a few times on the half of my grandma's face. I didn't expect that the wrinkles were a lot lighter. My relative is over 50 years old and there are no wrinkles. I said that it was the result of using this. I was particularly curious about what is in it, but I can't find it either."

　　In this regard, a dermatologist said that skin care products that can see obvious effects in the short term usually contain glucocorticoids.

Long-term use of cosmetics containing glucocorticoids will aggravate skin allergies after stopping, causing erythema, papules, or telangiectasia, which may lead to dark spots, atrophy and thinning of the skin, and hormone-dependent dermatitis may also occur.

Therefore, glucocorticoids are also called "skin opium."

　　According to the inspection results of cosmetics conducted by the National Quality Supervision Bureau in recent years, the two glucocorticoid components most frequently detected are dexamethasone and clobetasol propionate.

According to my country's "Cosmetics Safety Technical Specifications", glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone, clobetasol propionate and beclomethasone are harmful ingredients that are strictly prohibited from being added to cosmetics.

　　Zheng Ning said that according to the "Regulations on Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics", for cosmetics that cause harm to human bodies or have evidence that may endanger human health, the department responsible for drug supervision and administration can take emergency control measures that order the suspension of production and operation and issue safety warnings. .

At the same time, in accordance with the Consumer Protection Law, Product Quality Law, and Advertising Law, operators, producers, and advertisement publishers may also have to bear corresponding civil liabilities.

If a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility will also be investigated in accordance with the law.

Market regulation has a long way to go

Consumers need to be treated rationally

　　Statistics show that the retail scale of cosmetics in my country has increased from 204.9 billion yuan in 2015 to 340 billion yuan in 2020, an increase of 66%, which is significantly higher than that of other major cosmetics countries.

　　Since 2018, the scale of the cosmetics market has accelerated, but at the same time a series of problems such as false propaganda have also spawned. Therefore, the my country Food and Drug Administration has continued to take measures to rectify the chaos.

　　On January 5, 2018, the State Food and Drug Administration issued the "Procedures for Cosmetic Risk Testing", which proposed that six major categories of cosmetics will be monitored.

These include products with a wide range of circulation and large consumption, products that have caused cosmetic safety incidents or received consumers' attention, and products suspected of false and exaggerated publicity that mislead consumers.

　　In 2019, the State Food and Drug Administration conducted scientific popularization and focused supervision on false concepts and illegal claims of cosmetics such as EGF and stem cells.

　　On December 25, 2019, the State Food and Drug Administration released the "Identification of Illegal Claims and False Propaganda in Cosmetics" on its official website, which clearly pointed out the absolute meaning of words represented by wrinkle removal, and the falseness of words represented by pure natural words. Ten types of word meanings, such as word meanings, exaggerated word meanings, and medical terms, are forbidden to be used in cosmetic claims and publicity, and slogans that induce consumers with exaggerated effects are severely cracked down to further clarify the boundaries between the cosmetics and medical fields.

　　On June 29, 2020, the State Council issued the "Regulations on Supervision and Administration of Cosmetics" to standardize the production and operation of cosmetics, strengthen the supervision and management of cosmetics, ensure the quality and safety of cosmetics, protect the health of consumers, and promote the healthy development of the cosmetics industry.

The regulations will be implemented on January 1, 2021.

　　In this regard, Zheng Ning said that to reduce false concepts in advertising in the cosmetics industry requires not only market supervision departments to strengthen law enforcement, but also industry associations to increase their self-discipline awareness. E-commerce platforms also need to effectively fulfill their regulatory responsibilities for products on sale.

At the same time, the government, industry associations and the media should strengthen the guidance and education of consumers to help them identify false concepts.

　　Wang Yanhui believes that the legal system should be established and improved first, and the supervision should be strengthened. The cosmetics market is large and there are many problems. The relevant departments should be equipped with a corresponding number of supervisors and strengthen the professional quality of supervisors.

At the same time, we should make full use of modern resources, increase necessary supervision equipment and facilities, and improve supervision methods.

At the same time, the state should strengthen the role of rights protection channels such as industry and commerce and the 12315 complaint platform, so that the media and the general public can actively and effectively participate in supervision and form a comprehensive and multi-field supervision network.

In addition, in view of the particularity of current online sales, a nationwide networked rights protection system should also be established to improve consumers' rights protection efficiency.

　　Regarding how to distinguish the pseudo-concepts of cosmetics, Wang Yanhui suggested that consumers should understand the qualifications and ingredients of cosmetics before choosing, and choose cosmetics produced by formal companies that meet various national safety standards.

When choosing cosmetics or beauty equipment with special effects, consumers should be more cautious, understand relevant knowledge in advance, and if necessary, go to a regular hospital for consultation before purchasing.