Product record
Dabur Fem Cream Bleach: batch failed the mercury test (Kerala, Mar 2025)
Last checked 10 October 2026
CDSCO's March 2025 alert lists Dabur Fem Cream Bleach batch BM1516, made by Dabur India at Baddi, as failing the test for mercury content at the Kerala state drug-testing laboratory; it is a finding about that batch and no recall or ban of the product has been published.
- Classification
- Declared Not of Standard Quality (NSQ)
- Decided by
- Kerala State Drugs Control Department (state lab); listed by CDSCO
- Reference
- CDSCO NSQ alert, March 2025, state lab list (Drugs Testing Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram)
- Latest action
- 1 March 2025
- Last checked
- 10 October 2026
Photo: Woman applying cream to hand.jpg by Moose Photos (CC0). All photo credits.
CDSCO: Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) alerts, public portal (monthly lists from state and central labs)
Scope. A record here does not by itself mean a product or company is unsafe or banned today. Regulatory actions can apply to one batch, one formulation, one period or one state. Always check the linked government document for the current position, and tell us if something is out of date. How we label records.
Below: Blacklisted's explanationWe organise and explain what the document says. The document above is the authority.
Key facts
- Batch
- BM1516 (as printed in the alert)
- Maker
- Dabur India Ltd, Baddi, Himachal Pradesh
- Test failed
- Content of mercury in finished cosmetic (limit 1 ppm, Rule 39(5), Cosmetics Rules 2020)
- Lab
- Drugs Testing Laboratory, Thiruvananthapuram, under Kerala's Operation Soundarya
- Company response
- No public statement or challenge found; the product remains on sale
CDSCO's monthly 'not of standard quality' alert for March 2025 lists Dabur Fem Cream Bleach, batch BM1516, manufactured by Dabur India Ltd at Baddi, as failing the test for the content of mercury in finished cosmetics. The sample was tested by the Drugs Testing Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram as part of Kerala's Operation Soundarya, the same round that flagged Goree, Faiza and Sandal creams and a Blue Heaven lipstick.
The rule involved is Rule 39(5) of the Cosmetics Rules 2020: a finished cosmetic other than an eye-area product may not contain more than 1 part per million of mercury, and only as an unintentional trace. The alert gives the result, not the figure. Under the Act the manufacturer may contest a state lab result by asking for the sample to be sent to the Central Cosmetics Laboratory; we found no published outcome of any such request.
This record exists because the product is a household name and the finding is on an official list. It is a finding about one batch. The product has not been recalled, Dabur's manufacturing licence has not been affected, and no later alert names Fem bleach.
What this means for you
One batch, not the brand
A failed lab test names a batch number and the lab that tested it. It does not mean every pack of that product is affected. Check the batch on your pack against the one in the record.
A bleach is a cosmetic
Cream bleaches fall under the Cosmetics Rules 2020, so the 1 ppm mercury limit applies. A mercury finding in a bleach is unusual and may point to a contaminated raw material rather than a deliberate ingredient.
What to check
Look for the batch number near the expiry date on the box. If it is BM1516, do not use it. Other batches have no finding against them.
This is a record of official orders, not medical advice. Do not stop a prescribed medicine without asking your doctor or pharmacist.
Common questions
Is Fem bleach banned in India?
No. One batch failed a mercury test in March 2025. No recall, licence action or ban has been published.
Did Dabur dispute the result?
We found no public response. Under the rules the maker can ask for the sample to be retested at a central laboratory; no such outcome has been published.
Official sources and primary records
- Regulator
- Kerala health minister on Operation Soundarya: mercury in creams and lipsticks far above the limitNewsOnmanorama · 29 January 2025
- G.S.R. 56(E), 19 Jan 2017: mercury limits in cosmetics (rules 135-A and 145-D, Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945)GazetteMinistry of Health and Family Welfare · 19 January 2017