No to the 'gluten free' claim on cosmetics: it creates alarm among coeliacs and convinces them that even the gluten contained in creams can be dangerous for their health. With this motivation, the AIC, the Italian Celiac Association Onlus, has decided to challenge before the Tar the provision with which the Antitrust had instead judged the behavior of a cosmetic company that leveraged the absence of gluten in own products to advertise them. The appeal, filed on behalf of the Association by the Lipani Catricalà&Partners studio, asks the TAR for the annulment, subject to suspension, of the resolution of the Antitrust Authority of last October 15th.
In fact, according to the appeal, the decision conflicts both with the advice of the official expert appointed by the Antitrust which certifies the absence of effects linked to skin contact with cosmetics containing gluten, and with the opinion of the Communications Authority which he had judged the advertising to be unfair. The same Iap, the Institute of Advertising Self-Regulation, had also judged the use of the gluten-free wording in cosmetic products to be misleading in 2013.
"We hope that the Tar clarifies and induces the Antitrust to retrace its steps - comments Elisabetta Tosi President of the Italian Celiac Association Onlus - because we receive many reports from celiac patients who fear negative consequences for their health due to contact external with gluten. And the complaints about the improper promotion of cosmetics or detergents for the person declared as "suitable for celiacs", "for celiacs" or "gluten-free" are multiplying. Some companies even went so far as to ask us for the concession to use the Spiga Barrata brand. In this regard, I would like to point out that not only does the indication of the absence of gluten induce people with celiac disease to think that any gluten present in a cosmetic product is harmful to their health but also, consequently, that similar products (cosmetics produced by other companies for example), without indications on the label, are necessarily unsuitable. Celiac people are therefore induced to discard the cosmetic products of companies that do not include communications intended for them on the label, a choice that as an Association we consider absolutely correct and loyal. In order to reassure patients and their families, we have issued official press releases, recalling that all detergents (including toothpastes, mouthwashes and denture pastes), cosmetics (including lipstick and cocoa butter) and products for external use do not risks for celiac disease and can be used in complete safety. But at this point it is also necessary that the competent Authorities take charge of the problem".
In order to deal with "the macroscopic effects of suggestion and conditioning that the continuation of advertising produces on the vast category of consumers supported by the AIC", the Lipani Catricalà & Partners law firm has decided to request the suspension of the measure.
“There is a prejudice that celiac consumers suffer every day when they receive evidently misleading messages – reads the appeal – which lead to uncontrolled alarmism on the health risks that would derive from the contact of the gluten contained in cosmetics with the patient's skin. Even simply reading in a magazine or seeing messages in a shop window linking a cosmetic product to the absence of gluten can erroneously lead the subject to feel threatened by environmental conditions (gluten in contact with the skin) that are not harmful in reality, conditioning quality of life, far beyond what the perennial strictly gluten-free diet already requires”.
