Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will take steps to ensure that manufacturers cannot label hair relaxers as containing no-lye if they include sodium hydroxide in the ingredients list; and if he will make an assessment of the prevalence of this practice.

The Cosmetic Regulations state that a cosmetic product can not imply that the product has a characteristic or function which it does not have. Additionally, it requires products to include a full list of ingredients on the product’s label. Lye is the common name for sodium hydroxide. To be compliant with the regulations a product that contains lye as an ingredient must include this information on the label.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards, in its role as the regulator for cosmetic products, will take appropriate action to ensure the safety of consumers should non-compliance with the Cosmetic Regulations be identified.