Fda Compliance And Illegal Tanning Products

The media's obsession with celebrities and their bodies has changed how we see the perfect body. Size zero debates have strong advocates on both sides. many brands and designers design clothes for normal sized women but some still put lollipop head models on the catwalk. However it is not just size where our idea of perfection has changed.

Tanned skin on women used to be a mark of low class and promiscuity. Now we see a tango lacquer as the ultimate look, with soap stars and singers getting increasingly more orange. This can lead to bad health practices as well as higher rates of body disorders, with girls changing what they naturally look like so they can fit in with what is deemed to be 'normal'.

Canthaxanthin is the active ingredient is the majority of tanning pills. Swallowing colour additives that are not meant to be taken in high dosages can have serious side effects. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have outlined why tanning pills do not comply with their regulations and that any breach of this will lead to the products being detained, seized and destroyed.

The additive and active ingredient in many tanning pills is canthaxanthin. Small amounts can be found in some foods. When large amounts are taken via tanning pills, an orange brown colour is deposited around the body. Not only can this lead to patchy skin but there are some extremely dangerous and harmful side effects. Canthaxanthin-induced retinopathy is where crystals build up in the eye and can cause sight troubles. It may take years for you to be able to see properly again, even after the crystals have been removed. Itching, nausea, cramping and diarrhoea are other reported side effects of too much canthaxanthin.

because tanning pills do not stick with FDA compliance, they are illegal in the US and any other location that uses FDA regulations to govern drugs. Trying to import, buy or sell tanning pills in these areas could be classed as a criminal offence and individual cases are dealt with by the FDA governing body. To be blacklisted by the FDA is business suicide and so it is a very big risk for manufacturers to export tanning pills to the USA if they rely on selling other products in the country too.