Vietnam orders nationwide recall of X-Men, Botanika Kitchen products over labeling violations

The Drug Administration has issued a notice to provincial health departments and Marico South East Asia JSC, located in Di An Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, ordering the suspension of circulation, recall and destruction of two cosmetic product batches found to be no-compliant with registered product dossiers.

The affected products are Botanika Kitchen Hand Wash, 500g bottle, batch number 706, expiry date October 10, 2028, and X-Men For Boss Intense Perfumed Shower Gel, 180g bottle, batch number D46, expiry date July 30, 2028.

Marico South East Asia, based in Ho Chi Minh City, is listed as both the manufacturer and the company responsible for bringing the products to the market.

Samples collected by the National Institute of Drug Quality Control from BRG Mart store in Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Ward contained sodium benzoate, an ingredient that was not previously declared on the products’ labels.

The agency said the products were being recalled because their formulations did not match the specifications submitted in their approved cosmetic product dossiers.

Provincial health authorities have been instructed to notify businesses and users to immediately stop distributing and using the affected batches and return them to suppliers.

Local authorities are also required to monitor the recall process and handle violations in accordance with current regulations.

Marico South East Asia must notify distributors and users of the recall, collect returned products, and destroy all affected batches.

The company is then required to submit recall and destruction reports to the Drug Administration.

The regulator further ordered the company to review all batches of the two products and recall any others found to have similar violations.

The company is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the report.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health is in charge of supervising the recall and destruction process, simultaneously inspecting the company’s compliance with the provisions of the law on cosmetic management, handling and sanctioning violations in accordance with current regulations.

The Drug Administration also revoked the cosmetic declaration numbers 695/24/CBMP-BD and 295/25/CBMP-BD.