A video by YouTube channel Pibuneun Mindongseong alleging that eight Daiso sunscreen products fall below Ministry of Food and Drug Safety standards. [YouTube channel Pibuneun Mindongseong]
A video by YouTube channel Pibuneun Mindongseong alleging that eight Daiso sunscreen products fall below Ministry of Food and Drug Safety standards. [YouTube channel Pibuneun Mindongseong]

"I commissioned clinical trials on 10 Daiso sun products. But midway through, there were burns, erythema — it was a mess. Why? They all fell below the standard." — YouTube channel Pibuneun Mindongseong

Asung Daiso Co. on Tuesday rebuffed allegations by YouTube channel Pibuneun Mindongseong that eight sunscreen products sold at Daiso fail to meet the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's standards for UV protection, saying the claims that the products fall short of SPF 50+ "have not been established as fact."

The company said it had "strictly complied with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's notification standards and procedures before placing the eight products featured in the content on sale." It added that it had verified the products' functional cosmetics screening exemption reports, finished-product test certificates and full clinical trial results, and confirmed there were no issues with ingredients or safety before proceeding with sales.

Daiso also rebuffed the test data presented by the YouTube channel, saying it did not meet Ministry of Food and Drug Safety notification standards and could not be recognized as official documentation. Under ministry guidelines, SPF measurements must be conducted on at least 10 valid test subjects per product, but the channel had presented results based on only two to three subjects in what amounted to a preliminary trial, the company said.

"The submitted data is also an arbitrary Excel-format document in which the testing institution, principal investigator, certificate number, lot number, expiration date and other details cannot be verified, making it difficult to regard as a credible official SPF determination," Daiso said. "Accordingly, Asung Daiso proposed that testing be conducted at a nationally accredited institution on at least 10 valid subjects in compliance with Ministry of Food and Drug Safety notification standards, but this was not accepted."

Daiso said its repeated requests for objective verification were also turned down. The company said it had politely proposed that the channel pursue formal confirmation through a public agency such as the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, objective re-verification through a nationally accredited testing institution, and the provision of original test certificates for each product, but that "regrettably, all of these were declined."

On the channel's request for manufacturer-submitted documents related to product performance, Daiso said the materials "may constitute trade secrets or confidential business information of the supplier and are therefore difficult to provide externally in original or copied form." It added that it had prepared to allow the channel to review key contents through a confidential viewing arrangement and had requested in-person briefings on multiple occasions, none of which were accepted.

Daiso also said that unilaterally imposing sanctions such as suspending sales solely on the basis of the YouTube channel's allegations could constitute a violation of the Fair Trade Act. The company said all eight sunscreen suppliers had confirmed their products were free of defects, and warned that "taking unilateral sanctions or disadvantageous measures against product suppliers in the absence of test results that meet clear legal standards could constitute an abuse of a superior bargaining position prohibited under the Fair Trade Act."

Daiso said it "regards the allegations raised on this occasion as a very serious matter" and said it "distributes only cosmetics products that have completed the procedures and standards set by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety." The company said it would "proceed with objective verification through a nationally accredited testing institution together with product suppliers and take responsible measures," and pledged to "sell only safe and trustworthy products that customers can use with confidence."


spa@heraldcorp.com