CDSCO public health alert on Goree and Chandni whitening creams (Sep 2026)

CDSCO's cosmetics division issued the alert on 8 Sep 2026 under File COS-11012/07/2026. It names two products, Goree Beauty Cream and Chandni Whitening Cream, both labelled as made in Pakistan, and records two findings: neither has an import registration certificate under Rule 12 of the Cosmetics Rules 2020, and samples tested contained heavy metals beyond the specified limits. The alert directs every Regulatory Enforcement Unit and the state drug controllers to stop the sale of both products and asks the public to report sellers of Indian-made cosmetics to the State Drugs Controller and of imported ones to the Drugs Controller General of India.

The alert followed a year of state action. Kerala's drug-testing laboratory reported Goree Day & Night Beauty Cream failing the mercury test in CDSCO's March 2025 list, during the state's Operation Soundarya. On 4 Jul 2026 Maharashtra FDA declared Goree Beauty Cream, Face Fresh Gold and Golden Star Beauty Cream not of standard quality for mercury and lead above the limits, stopped their sale and told e-commerce platforms to delist them, after Nagpur doctors linked kidney disease in 18 women to long use of such creams. A second Maharashtra alert on 10 Jul 2026 added nine more products.

Imports from Pakistan have been barred outright since 2 May 2025, when DGFT inserted paragraph 2.20A into the Foreign Trade Policy. The creams reach Indian shops through third countries and informal channels, which is why police cases in Maharashtra were registered under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act rather than customs law. Press reports from Ahmedabad on 21 Sep 2026 found both creams still openly on sale, so the alert is a direction to enforce, not evidence that the products are gone.