Rio Hair Naturalizer System

Last updated

The Rio Hair Naturalizer System was a hair relaxer distributed by the World Rio Corporation Inc. It was available in two types; "Neutral", and one that claimed to have a "Color Enhancement Formula" that contained a black hair dye. [1] As a product designed for home use, it was promoted through infomercials in the early to mid-1990s.

Contents

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state government offices began receiving complaints about the Rio hair products in mid-1994. Many complainants said they had bought the hair relaxers by mail after viewing a 30-minute TV infomercial targeted to African Americans.

Some complainants reported that their hair began falling out immediately after applying the products, while others said they had problems after multiple applications. Some said they had seen doctors for treatment of scalp irritation. Many women said they had to cut their hair short to deal with bald spots.

Timeline

November 6 and 8, 1994 FDA collected samples of the hair relaxers, at a Los Angeles-based affiliate, Pantron I Corp., of World Rio. Most of the products, which were imported from Brazil, were in the possession of Product Packaging West, also known as Pic 'N' Pac West, of North Hollywood, California.

November 23, 1994 the California Department of Health embargoed the products held in Los Angeles and North Hollywood, essentially blocking their sale in the United States.

December 21, 1994 FDA advised against use of the products after laboratory findings identified the low pH and the number of consumer complaints indicated that the hair relaxers were causing adverse reactions. About the same time, World Rio stated it would stop all sales of the products, but the FDA received reports from consumers that the company may still have been taking orders and billing customers through a mail-order company: Addressing and Mailing Inc., in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

January 23, 1995, at FDA's request, U.S. marshals seized the entire lot of products at Product Packaging West in California.

January 24, 1995 an investigator with FDA's San Francisco district office went to Addressing and Mailing to inspect the firm and found more than 8,000 cases of the Rio hair relaxers, worth about $500,000 in retail value. FDA notified the State of Nevada Division of Health, which, in turn, embargoed the products, thus preventing their sale.

June 14, 1995 World Rio voluntarily destroyed the 8,000 cases of Rio hair relaxers held at Addressing and Mailing in Nevada. [2]

Safety concerns

Despite the claims of the relaxer being safe and natural, the product contained copper, ammonium, and chloride salts and a pH of less than the listed level of 3. [3] Due to these factors, people using the product suffered from hair loss, scalp burns, and (in some cases) green hair color. [4] By 1995, there were over 3,000 complaints lodged with the Food and Drug Administration. Eventually, the product was barred from being imported into the U.S., and all remaining company stocks were destroyed. [5] Several victims (about 53,000) filed a class action lawsuit against World Rio Corporation, resulting in a judgment of US$4.5 million. The incident also raised questions about the issue of relaxing afro-textured hair in general. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tylenol (brand)</span> Medication

Tylenol is a brand of medication, advertised for reducing pain, reducing fever, and relieving the symptoms of allergies, cold, cough, headache, and influenza. The active ingredient of its original flagship product is paracetamol, an analgesic and antipyretic. Like the words paracetamol and acetaminophen, the brand name Tylenol is derived from a chemical name for the compound, N-acetyl-para-aminophenol (APAP). The brand name is owned by McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a subsidiary of Kenvue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ephedra (medicine)</span> Medicinal preparation from the plant Ephedra sinica

Ephedra is a medicinal preparation from the plant Ephedra sinica. Several additional species belonging to the genus Ephedra have traditionally been used for a variety of medicinal purposes, and are a possible candidate for the soma plant of Indo-Iranian religion. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine, in which it is referred to as Ma Huang, for more than 2,000 years. Native Americans and Mormon pioneers drank a tea brewed from other Ephedra species, called "Mormon tea" and "Indian tea".

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited was an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company that was incorporated in India in 1961 and remained an entity until 2014. The company went public in 1973. Ownership of Ranbaxy changed twice over the course of its history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minoxidil</span> Medication used to treat hair loss

Minoxidil is a medication used for the treatment of high blood pressure and pattern hair loss. It is an antihypertensive vasodilator. It is available as a generic medication by prescription in oral tablet form and over the counter as a topical liquid or foam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Oldham Kelsey</span> Canadian-American physician and pharmacologist (1914–2015)

Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey was a Canadian-American pharmacologist and physician. As a reviewer for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), she refused to authorize thalidomide for market because she had concerns about the lack of evidence regarding the drug's safety. Her concerns proved to be justified when it was shown that thalidomide caused serious birth defects. Kelsey's career intersected with the passage of laws strengthening FDA oversight of pharmaceuticals. Kelsey was the second woman to receive the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, awarded to her by John F. Kennedy in 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Trudeau</span> American fraudster and pseudoscientist

Kevin Trudeau is an American author, salesman, and convicted fraudster known for promotion of his books and resulting legal cases involving the US Federal Trade Commission. His ubiquitous late-night infomercials, which promoted unsubstantiated health, diet, and financial advice, earned him a fortune but resulted in civil and criminal penalties for fraud, larceny, and contempt of court.

A relaxer is a type of lotion or cream generally used by people with tight curls or very curly hair which makes hair easier to straighten by chemically "relaxing" the natural curls. The active agent is usually a strong alkali, although some formulations are based on ammonium thioglycolate or formaldehyde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proactiv</span> American brand of skin-care products

Proactiv is an American brand of skin-care products developed by two American dermatologists, Katie Rodan and Kathy A. Fields, and launched in 1995 by Guthy-Renker, a California-based direct marketing company, that is endorsed by famous celebrities The range includes moisturizers, body washes and treatment products, but the brand is known for its three-step anti-acne kit consisting of a cleanser, toner and lotion. Proactiv+, a reformulation of the three-step kit, was introduced in 2013, and in 2017, ProactivMD launches powered by Adapalene.

<i>Natural Cures "They" Dont Want You to Know About</i>

Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know About is a 2005 self-published book by American author Kevin Trudeau, promoting various purported non-drug and non-surgical cures for many diseases, primarily in support of his business selling such products. Trudeau accuses pharmaceutical companies and the United States government of censoring these products and methods on the basis that it would cut into their profit margin. The book is the subject of widespread allegations of fraud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Lapre</span> American salesman (1964–2011)

Donald D. Lapre was an American multi-level marketing and infomercial salesman. His work involved product packages such as "The Greatest Vitamin in the World" and "Making Money Secrets".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afro-textured hair</span> Human hair texture originating from sub-Saharan Africa

Afro-textured hair is a human hair texture originally prevalent in many regions with hot climates, including in sub-Saharan Africa. Each strand of this hair type grows in a tiny, angle-like helix shape. The overall effect is such that, contrasted with straight hair, wavy hair, or curly hair, afro-textured hair appears denser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prescription Drug User Fee Act</span> Legislation in the United States

The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) was a law passed by the United States Congress in 1992 which allowed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to collect fees from drug manufacturers to fund the new drug approval process. The Act provided that the FDA was entitled to collect a substantial application fee from drug manufacturers at the time a New Drug Application (NDA) or Biologics License Application (BLA) was submitted, with those funds designated for use only in Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) or Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) drug approval activities. In order to continue collecting such fees, the FDA is required to meet certain performance benchmarks, primarily related to the speed of certain activities within the NDA review process.

<i>The Weight-Loss Cure "They" Dont Want You to Know About</i> 2007 book by Kevin Trudeau

The Weight Loss Cure "They" Don't Want You to Know About is a weight loss book written by controversial author Kevin Trudeau. It was released in April 2007 by Alliance Publishing.

Guthy-Renker is a California-based direct-response marketing company that sells health and beauty products directly to consumers through infomercials, television ads, direct mail, telemarketing, e-mail marketing, and the Internet. Many of its products are endorsed by celebrities including actresses and musicians

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peanut Corporation of America</span> Defunct Peanut Processing Company

Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) was a peanut-processing business which is now defunct as a result of one of the most massive and lethal food-borne contamination events in U.S. history.

Seasilver is the trademarked name of a commercial dietary supplement produced and sold by the companies Seasilver USA, Inc. and Americaloe, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regulation of food and dietary supplements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration</span> Governmental regulation of food quality

The regulation of food and dietary supplements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is a process governed by various statutes enacted by the United States Congress and interpreted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA"). Pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and accompanying legislation, the FDA has authority to oversee the quality of substances sold as food in the United States, and to monitor claims made in the labeling about both the composition and the health benefits of foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swanson Health Products</span>

Swanson Health Products (SHP) is a natural health catalog and Internet marketing company headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. The company sells natural health and wellness products, including health foods, dietary supplements such as vitamins, minerals, herbs, as well as natural personal care products directly to consumers through mail-order catalogs and an e-commerce website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyeth</span> American pharmaceutical company

Wyeth was a pharmaceutical company until it was purchased by Pfizer in 2009. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as John Wyeth and Brother. Its headquarters moved to Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and Madison, New Jersey, before its headquarters were consolidated with Pfizer's in New York City after the 2009 merger.

Monat Global Corp., or simply Monat, is a privately-held American multi-level marketing company headquartered in Doral, Florida, which sells haircare, skincare and wellness products. It is a subsidiary of the Alcora Corporation, a private-labeling company formed in 2001. Monat operates in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Poland, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Lithuania and France.

References

  1. ↑ "FDA WARNS AGAINST USE OF "RIO" HAIR RELAXER" (Press release). Food and Drug Administration. December 21, 1994. Archived from the original on October 26, 2008.
  2. ↑ Kurtzweil, Paula (March 1996). "Hair relaxers destroyed after consumer complain". FDA Consumer. 30 (2): 33.
  3. ↑ Swee, Warren; Karl C. Klontz, Lark A. Lambert (September 2000). "A Nationwide Outbreak of Alopecia Associated With the Use of a Hair-Relaxing Formulation". Archives of Dermatology . 136 (9, No. 9): 1104–8. doi:10.1001/archderm.136.9.1104. PMID   10987865.
  4. ↑ Ayana D. Byrd; Lori L. Tharps (30 November 2006). Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. Diane Pub Co. p. 95. ISBN   978-0-7567-6982-6 . Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Kurtzweil, Paula (March 1996). "Hair relaxers destroyed after consumers complain – products sold by World Rio Corp", FDA Consumer.
  6. ↑ Zook, Kristal Brent (January 7, 1996). "Get out of our hair: Untangling the politics on top of the black woman's head", The Washington Post , pp. C1.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.