British couple fined for skin bleaching sales

Published: 5-Jan-2007


A British couple have been ordered to pay almost £100,000 in fines and costs after they pleaded guilty to selling toxic skin lightening creams.

Yinka and Michael Oluyemi were convicted of selling banned bleaching products in their two shops in southeast London. They are said to have made £1m through the sale of the products. The creams contained banned prescription-only steroids and hydroquinone, a possible carcinogen linked to permanent skin damage. Customers who bought the products also risked damage to blood vessels and infection.

In the US, the FDA has proposed banning the sales of over the counter skin lightening products, adding that the health risks do not justify their sale without prescription.

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