‘Sex-Change Chemical’ Found In Fake Bottles of Shampoo Sold in Britain

Fact checked

Sex Change Shampoo For All!

Do you want a sex change but just don’t have the cash on hand?  Don’t you worry!  If you buy Head and Shoulders shampoo and you live in Britain – you may already be in the process and not even know it!  Yes, it’s true, according to a report by the The Daily Mail entitled, “‘Sex-change chemical’ found in fake bottles of Head and Shoulders shampoo sold in stores ” [1], experts found that the fake shampoo contained the same chemicals you would be given if you were to begin the process of a sex change.  Maybe whoever did this dastardly deed is onto something: Sex Change Shampoo!

The Mail Reports:  Several discount stores across Britain have been unknowingly selling fake bottles of Head and Shoulders shampoo, which contain potentially dangerous ingredients including ‘sex change’ chemicals.

Thousands of counterfeit bottles of the top-selling haircare brand have been seized by Trading Standards officers after customers began reporting side effects of itching and bleeding after using the products.

Tests carried out by scientists at Loughborough University, on samples collected during the UK seizures, revealed the fakes had a ‘significantly different chemical make-up to the genuine product’.

Screen Shot 2014-12-05 at 2.15.49 PM

The bogus products were found to contain high levels of the ‘sex change’ chemical Diethyl Phthalate, which can affect reproductive health and can also be toxic to wildlife.

An investigation found fake bottles of the leading shampoo brand had been on sale at two Trago Mills’ stores in Cornwall and at a discount B&M store in Northern Ireland.

Health experts fear there could be thousands more of the counterfeit bottles on sale across the country, with the fakes so realistic that it is extremely difficult to tell the difference between the bogus product and the real thing.

The makers of the genuine Head and Shoulders brand, Procter and Gamble, said chemicals in the fakes had the potential to cause irritation to breathing and skin, could be harmful if swallowed and had risks of ‘serious damage’ to eyes.

Screen Shot 2014-12-05 at 2.16.00 PM

The counterfeits also tested positive for large amounts of the ‘sex change’ chemical Diethyl Phthalate, which can affect reproductive health.

The endocrine chemicals, which could find their way into into rivers and lakes from drains and sewage, can lead to fish having their hormones altered and some scientists claim it can stop them breeding.

Experts said there was ten times the amount of the ‘sex change’ chemical compared to any other ingredients in some of the fake bottles.

An investigation on TV show Fake Britain found that of the 160 bottles seized from Trago Mills stores in Falmouth and Liskeard in Cornwall, every one turned out to be a counterfeit.

In a statement, Trago Mills said: ‘As a retailer that has been established for nearly 50 years, we have always taken great care to build relationships with reputable suppliers and top brands, in order to source the best products for our customers.

‘We purchased this particular product in good faith, from a trusted source, and we were one of a number of wholesalers and retailers, worldwide, who received it.
‘The copy was so advanced that it took rigorous testing to identify it as a copy.

Screen Shot 2014-12-05 at 2.16.10 PM

‘We work closely with the Office of Fair Trading to ensure our customers’ best interests are put first and are grateful to them for helping us to identify this sophisticated copy and to ensure the product was removed immediately from sale.’

Cornwall Trading Standards was involved in the investigation and a spokesman described them as ‘extremely good counterfeits’ which looked almost identical to the real thing.

She added: ‘The copies were so incredibly good that the store, in our opinion, had done everything they could to make sure it wasn’t selling counterfeits.

‘As such, we have closed the investigation against the store that sold it, by way of providing advice for them to potentially spot counterfeits in the future.’

Tests on the counterfeit products, carried out at Loughborough University, found it did not have any acidity regulator, meaning there’s nothing to control chemical reactions in the bottles, which could produce harmful substances.

A skin sensitiser was also found, which could cause contact dermatitis to those allergic.

Screen Shot 2014-12-05 at 2.16.33 PM

On the BBC investigative show, a woman in St Austell, called Sharon, described how the fake shampoo which she’d unwittingly bought at a 99p Store in the town, caused her scalp to itch and turn red after just the third use. Scabs then formed which later began to bleed.

She said: ‘You’d itch so vigorously and then it would kind of scab and then the next time you would itch it would make a certain patch bleed.

‘I was quite angry to think that something I was paying my money for was making me sore and itchy.

‘You feel dirty I suppose that you’re forever sitting there scratching.

‘Having a sore head and scalp was bad enough but to actually have a product to make me bleed.

‘I was still using it so who knows what the chemicals were in it that I was putting on my head.

Screen Shot 2014-12-05 at 2.17.51 PM

‘It’s disgusting.’

The BBC show also interviewed a woman called Nicole from Antrim, Northern Ireland, who bought Head and Shoulders shampoo from a local B&M store.

She used it to wash her five-year-old daughter Imogen’s hair and said she noticed adverse effects immediately.

She said: ‘The next day after use it looked like there were particles of paint in her hair.

‘It wasn’t small bits of dandruff, it was big flakes. The size of a small finger.

‘My worry was, is my daughter going to be losing her hair?

‘I’d say “is it sore” and she would say “mummy, it’s really itchy”. She was scratching like crazy.’

Imogen eventually received treatment from her GP, but her mother notified Northern Ireland Trading Standards of the reaction.

Officers launched an investigation and within weeks the authority seized almost 2,000 bottles of the illegal product from 15 discount stores across the country.

Nicole added: ‘What makes me angry is that I don’t know what the cause is, what was in the shampoo. I don’t know what I’ve put in her hair and the effects are ongoing. Something needs to be done about it.’

B&M Retail said it was ‘shocked to discover that some counterfeit product had entered the supply chain from one of the wholesale supplies of the product’.

The store added: ‘As soon as we were made aware the suspect stock was withdrawn from sale across all B&M stores.

‘We are actively supporting the Trading Standards service to ensure a successful prosecution of the parties responsible further up the supply chain.

‘This incident is the first in our 30 year history and we have taken steps to prevent a repeat occurrence.’

Procter and Gamble, the firm which makes the genuine Head and Shoulders brand, today urged anyone who believes they may have a counterfeit product to contact Trading Standards.
A spokesman said: ‘As we do not make these counterfeit products we cannot guarantee their safety so our first advice to people would be that, if they are in doubt, to stop using it immediately.

‘We would also recommend that they return the product to the retailer where they made the purchase and make a complaint, or contact Trading Standards directly.’
MailOnline has contacted 99p Stores for comment.

SOURCE

[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2860378/Stores-Britain-selling-fake-bottle-Head-Shoulders-shampoo-containing-sex-change-chemical.html

 

Royce Christyn

Royce Christyn

Journalist at News Punch
Documentarian, Writer, Producer, Director, Author.
Royce Christyn

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.