Tuesday, September 11, 2012

The Food and Drug Administration is warning cosmetics maker L'Oreal SA that its website for Genefique exaggerates the benefits of the skin cream, portraying it as a drug with medical properties.

The agency issued a warning letter Friday to the company's Lancome unit, which markets Genefique Youth Activating Concentrate and similar anti-wrinkle cosmetics. The letter was posted to FDA's website Tuesday.

Lancome claims Genefique "boosts the activity of genes" and contains special ingredients that "stimulate cell regeneration to reconstruct skin to a denser quality."

The agency says only drug products are allowed to make such claims, and Lancome has not submitted necessary data to market its product as a drug.

The letter instructs the company to respond to regulators in 15 business days with a plan for correcting the language.