EU disagrees with France on vitamin K1 in cosmetics

The EU’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Products has refused to comprehensively back a French government ban on using the vitamin K1 and its oxide in cosmetic products, imposed because of allergy concerns.

The committee said it could not take a firm stand because of “the inadequate nature” of existing scientific studies into the problem. However, it did warn that consumers could develop an allergy from using cosmetics containing K1, which poses a “small risk” of generating allergic reactions. Such consumers might not be able to take K1 therapeutically, a problem, because it “can be a life-saving…agent,” concluded the committee.