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NEW YORK - Procter & Gamble halted sales of its SK-II skin care brand in China Friday after a watchdog group there said it found chromium and neodymium in nine SK-II products imported from Japan, where they were produced.
China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine announced the finding two weeks ago and sales were suspended after a "series of security incidents that have occurred at SK-II counters" during product refunds, P&G said in a statement. Glass was smashed on the gate outside P&G's Shanghai branch Thursday as about 30 people gathered to protest the company's actions, according to a report in the Shanghai Daily.
Media reports indicated public discontent arose over the timeliness of refunds, which P&G transferred Friday to a 24-hour hot line. Customers became upset, the Shanghai Daily reported, when told they'd have to wait one month for a cash refund and when asked to sign a waiver stating there was nothing wrong with the product's quality.
P&G insisted the presence of trace amounts of the metallic elements presents no health or safety issue and maintained that the interruption in sales would be temporary as it works with the Chinese government to resolve the issue. China accounts for less than 7 percent of...