Actor Gwyneth Paltrow has been building up a sideline of health and beauty products under the Goop brand. As well as online, Goop have some physical stores in the U.S. In June 2019, Goop opened its first bricks-and-mortar store in Canada on Friday. Things did not go to plan, and an intervention by Health Canada (the medicines regulator) saw two products to be removed from sale.
Goop’s products are controversial and the California-based company has previously faced criticism from Canadian scientists over a ‘Wellness Summit’ held in Vancouver in 2018, which showcased many of the products (as reported by Digital Journal’s Karen Graham). According to Timothy Caulfield, an Edmonton-based health science expert, some of the products marketed by Goop have no scientific basis, they lack any data to show efficacy, and have been criticized by some in the medical establishment as misleading.
The products pulled two were branded as Beautycounter brand sunscreen products, according to CBC News. Goop describes these as products which use “natural ingredients” and which contain no “questionable chemicals”. However, the products were not approved for sale in Canada. Under Canadian law all natural health and cosmetics products must be tested to assess whether they contain any harmful ingredients or anything that is not described on the label. If testing is successful, a Natural Health Number can be assigned and this must be displayed on the packaging to enable Canadian citizens to assess the status of the product.
According to Goop, in an email sent to Digital Journal: “We learned that two sunscreens with US packaging from a third party brand were inadvertently sent to Canada. Canadian regulations require different packaging. The product itself is compliant with Canadian regulations and is the same formula as sold in the US. The packaging issue has been fixed, and we have reached out to Health Canada to ensure our entire assortment exceeds their standards.”
