Senators Dianne Feinstein and Susan Collins are proposing a bill that will give the FDA the additional authority to regulate the safety of beauty products. If you thought that the FDA was already doing that, you were mistaken: No beauty products (except for color additives) require FDA approval before going to market. The FDA does regulate beauty products on a very limited basis under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, but at a literal surface level: Only to prohibit “adulterated or misbranded” cosmetics from being sold. Product recalls with hazardous chemicals are even described as “voluntary” on the FDA site.
