11 Sunscreens Sold In New Zealand Didn't Meet SPF Claims, As Revealed By An Australian Test
Consumer NZ research and test writer Belinda Castles says consumers expect sunscreens to protect them. But Castles isnt surprised the protection falls short of whats claimed on the bottle.
Australian consumer group Choice's test of household sunscreens has shown 16 out of 20 tested sunscreens didn't meet their SPF claims.
These include products sold in New Zealand, including Banana Boat, Nivea and Neutrogena sunscreens.
Consumer NZ research and test writer Belinda Castles says consumers expect sunscreens to protect them. But Castles isn't surprised the protection falls short of what's claimed on the bottle.
'Consumer NZ ran a sunscreen testing programme until 2022, and the results found by Choice are consistent with what we've found previously,' she says.
The Choice test found:
Nivea Sun Protect & Moisture Lock SPF50+ tested at SPF40
Sun Bum Premium Moisturising Sunscreen Lotion SPF50+ tested at SPF40.
Consumer's 2021 tests of both these sunscreens also got SPF results in the 40s.
Banana Boat, Bondi Sands and Neutrogena sunscreens also failed to meet their SPF label claims in both Choice and earlier Consumer testing.
While most of the products in the Australian tests still provide moderate or high SPF protection, one product – Ultra Violette Lean Screen SPF50+ Mattifying Zinc Sunscreen – only returned an SPF of 4. Choice tested the sunscreen again at a second lab to confirm this result and got a similar low SPF of5. This sunscreen is also sold in New Zealand.
Castles says the test results for the big sunscreen brands is particularly concerning, given these companies' lack of transparency about when and where their products are tested.
'Sunscreens sold in New Zealand are now regulated under the Sunscreen (Product Safety Standard) Act 2022 and must meet the Australian and New Zealand sunscreen standard, which has requirements for independent testing. However, when we updated our sunscreens database last year, the companies that market Banana Boat, Bondi Sands, Neutrogena, Nivea and Sun Bum refused to provide this information.'
Consumer has also been campaigning for companies to be required to test their sunscreens regularly to ensure the products continue to meet their label claims.
'Our sunscreen research found some companies were relying on test results that are several years old. The latest Choice tests back our call.'
Invisible Zinc Face + Body Mineral Sunscreen SPF50+ tested at 38 in the Australian test. The company told Consumer this product was last tested in 2017.
Woolworths Sunscreen SPF50+ Everyday Lotion tested at 27 in the Australian test. The company told Consumer this product was last tested in 2018.
Choice is calling on Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration to urgently carry out its own sunscreen compliance testing. Choice has also asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate if any SPF claims are misleading.
Consumer will be raising the same issues with New Zealand regulators and the Commerce Commission.
Products tested available in New Zealand
SPF results in 50+
La Roche-Posay Anthelios Wet Skin Sunscreen SPF 50+ – tested at 72
Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Lotion SPF 50 – tested at 56
Mecca Cosmetica To Save Body SPF 50+ Hydrating Sunscreen – tested at 51
SPF results in the 40s
Nivea Sun Kids Ultra Protect and Play Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50+ – tested at 41
Nivea Sun Protect and Moisture Lock SPF 50+ Sunscreen – tested at 40
Sun Bum Premium Moisturising Sunscreen Lotion 50+ – tested at 40
SPF results in the 30s
Banana Boat Sport Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50+ – tested at 35
Bondi Sands SPF 50+ Fragrance Free Sunscreen – tested at 32
Invisible Zinc Face + Body Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50 – tested at 38
SPF results in the 20s
Banana Boat Baby Zinc Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50+ – tested at 28
Bondi Sands SPF 50+ Zinc Mineral Body Lotion – tested at 26
Neutrogena Sheer Zinc Dry-Touch Lotion SPF 50 – tested at 24
Woolworths Sunscreen Everyday Tube SPF 50+ – tested at 27
SPF results <10 <>10 <>
Ultra Violette's Lean Screen SPF 50+ Mattifying Zinc Skinscreen – tested at 4
For the full test results, visit CHOICE sunscreen results: https://www.choice.com.au/health-and-body/beauty-and-personal-care/skin-care-and-cosmetics/articles/sunscreen-test
In partnership with Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, Consumer NZ's sunscreen database allows users to filter sunscreens by factors such as price, water resistance, SPF protection and the last time a sunscreen was tested.
For more information about sunscreens, including information about the 150+ sunscreens in our database, visit: Sunscreens | Overview – Consumer NZ: https://www.consumer.org.nz/products/sunscreens
Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz
Original url
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
29 minutes ago
- NZ Herald
Time to ditch workplace ‘bring a plate' functions? Editorial
Hospital admin staff at the Hastings hospital building inadvertently shared a cannabis cake at a morning tea among workmates. For a few hours, it was probably quite a good day. But as two workers began to feel ill, things went south. With an arrest now made, police and the justice system will decide if it was a deliberate poisoning or an accidental act – but regardless, it's certainly no Australian beef wellington incident. In this case, it resulted in two workers taking a very short walk down to the Emergency Department to try to get an explanation of what was wrong with them. Once the results came back, the cake became the talk of the hospital and, soon after, the nation. Health NZ says it takes the incident extremely seriously and acted immediately to ensure appropriate steps were taken. Perhaps one of the steps that it, and other employers around NZ, could take is to look at food-related social occasions. Good employers will occasionally offer a catered morning tea to staff as a gesture of goodwill. However, the public service has become cautious when it comes to offering the same benefits, fearing headlines that emphasise the cost and the subsequent public backlash. A quick look at social media comments on a story about $30,000 Christmas breakfast Napier City Council put on for its staff last year shows the risk of perception that publicly funded organisations face when putting on meals. Maybe the cannabis cake will change that. Perhaps, instead of platitudes about it being an unacceptable act, it could be a catalyst to ditch the forced 'bring a plate' functions, and instead give workers something they don't have to prepare themselves. That might be better than playing potluck. Sign up to the Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Otago Daily Times
13-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Signs of life on rebuild
The Health Minister roaming about the new Dunedin hospital site last week may have been little more than a public relations exercise, but it was welcome all the same. Diggers are back on the site, working on the foundations, and billboards have gone up proclaiming the involvement of Australian construction giant CPB which is expected to get the contract for the new inpatient building. All of these things suggest action at last on the beleaguered project. Questions remain about whether the hospital, in its scaled-back state, can possibly come in within its $1.88 billion budget and be sufficient to serve the population when it is hopefully completed in 2031. Former head of the new hospital's governance group Pete Hodgson estimates inflation alone would have added an extra $40 million in costs since the government stalled the project last September citing cost concerns. There has been much airy talk of changed models of care affecting the demand for various services at the new hospital when it opens in 2031, without any detail of what this involves and how it will be achieved. The whole of the health system still faces workforce shortages. If changes mean moving to more care in the community, it is hard to understand how when basic issues such as boosting the pay of nurses working there to match their Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand counterparts remains unresolved. (The government seems to have conveniently forgotten Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, in the televised pre-election leaders' debate, promised he would ensure they would be paid the same if he won the election.) Mixed messaging from the government about the project continues. In the New Zealand Gazette notice of the appointment which will bring back Evan Davies to the project, but this time in the supremo role of Crown manager, Health Minister Simeon Brown blamed delays and extra costs on HNZ, ignoring the role the government has played in that. He said HNZ had struggled to maintain momentum on the project and identify a path forward following consistent cost pressure and extensions to the estimated delivery time for the project. That seemed at odds with his on-site comment last week that HNZ staff had been "playing a critically important role in getting us to where we are here today". During his visit Mr Brown announced the establishment of the Southern Engagement Group, to help ensure the local community was kept well informed as the project progresses. The group will involve HNZ leaders and a variety of other representatives including local government, infrastructure partners and tertiary institutions to provide regular updates and support ongoing engagement throughout the project. It will meet quarterly to consider "a broad range of matters relevant to the successful delivery of the hospital" but will not provide advice on the building's design scope, clinical models of care or procurement decisions. Although Mr Brown said he was making this announcement alongside Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich, basic questions posed to Mr Radich's office about whether the meetings would be held in public, whether members would be free to speak about hospital matters outside the group and if the group's terms of reference were finalised, were directed to HNZ. At the time of writing no answers had been received. Not a great start to make such an announcement on a group supposedly designed to improve communication and then not have relevant details promptly available. Making hay while the drizzle dries There's nothing quite like a closer-than-expected All Blacks game to take much of the nation's minds momentarily off more important matters such as the fallout from the foul weather which has ravaged much of the country in recent days. The sold-out All Blacks/France match would also have been a welcome midwinter fillip to Dunedin's hospitality sector at a time when the cost of living continues to affect domestic spending. It is an uneasy time for the local sector, as it awaits the impact of the competition from the new, bigger, covered Christchurch stadium expected to be completed next year and while Forsyth Barr Stadium continues to struggle financially and to attract major events.
Otago Daily Times
11-07-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Shuffles continue at top of project
A fast-rising bureaucrat brought in to helm the government's reset of the new Dunedin hospital project has been dumped from the inpatient build, the Otago Daily Times understands. Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) head of infrastructure delivery Blake Lepper had fronted the $1.88 billion Dunedin hospital project for HNZ, including standing alongside ministers at press briefings and being described as ''senior responsible officer''. Mr Lepper arrived at HNZ last March from a management role at the Infrastructure Commission, but after repeated questions to HNZ from the Otago Daily Times about whether Mr Lepper was still senior responsible officer for the inpatient build, the agency admitted he is not. Tony Lloyd, who was removed as the build's programme director in November, has been confirmed as project director for the build. HNZ said Mr Lepper, who has a law and physics degree from the University of Otago, retained responsibilities for completion of Dunedin's outpatient building, and workforce and data and digital work streams, as well as other infrastructure projects. The period of Mr Lepper's leadership of the inpatient build was fraught. After piles were driven, no contract was awarded to build the inpatients building and ministers claimed a project blowout, and sought a reset. Meanwhile, sources moaned about HNZ leadership prevarication causing delays. The option of refurbishing the existing ward block, rather than constructing a new inpatient building, had been previously considered and ditched, but was reconsidered under Mr Lepper and dismissed again. Mr Lepper's departure from the inpatient building comes hot on the heels of other senior personnel changes and announcements relating to how the project is staffed, delivered and governed. Last month, corporate boss Evan Davies — group chief executive of gas and property company Todd and member of a new HNZ health infrastructure committee — was appointed as crown manager of the inpatient building project by Health Minister Simeon Brown. When announcing the appointment, Mr Brown said HNZ had ''struggled to maintain momentum on the project and identify a path forward''. Mr Brown, who had spoken in January alongside Mr Lepper at a press conference announcing the inpatient build would go ahead, has repeatedly stressed that Mr Davies now has authority to make appointments to run the project. In the press conference, Mr Brown said the focus was ''cracking on'' with the build. Mr Lepper's messaging in the conference was less clear. He said HNZ was committed to leading the project, but was also ''looking across government to get the support we need to make sure we can move''. He was ''really grateful'' for support that was being provided by Crown Infrastructure Delivery (CID), a crown agency tasked with helping government departments manage infrastructure builds. Subsequent to Mr Davies becoming crown manager, HNZ sent Australian construction giant CPB a ''letter of intent'' to hire the firm to deliver the inpatient building. CID, which has no hospital-building experience, will not be project managing CPB's work. A question mark also hovers over the future and role of the project's governance committee, the Project Steering Group (PSG), which is meant to oversee the build. Rebecca Wark, the former head of health construction for New South Wales, was the most recent independent chairwoman of the PSG, but HNZ said her contract ended last month and it was ''currently reviewing the structure of the group''.
