QUEZON CITY — With 9.9 online sales in full swing, the EcoWaste Coalition slammed the rampant marketing of an illegally imported skin-lightening brand from Pakistan. Despite health alerts from various governments, this mercury-laced cosmetic brand continues to be sold aggressively online.
The toxics watchdog group deplored the unrestrained use of e-commerce and social media platforms to advertise, promote, and sell Goree Beauty Cream, defying warnings and bans issued by health and consumer protection authorities in the Philippines and other countries.
Based on rapid monitoring conducted by the group on September 7 and subsequently reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), banned Goree products can be easily obtained from dealers using their Lazada, Shopee, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram accounts in brazen disregard of the platforms’ community guidelines.
“With the 9.9 online sales underway, we strongly urge online shopping sites and social media networks to block the promotion and sale of harmful merchandise containing mercury, such as FDA-flagged Goree skin lightening products,” said Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator, EcoWaste Coalition. “As our monitoring has only scratched the surface, we encourage the FDA to carry out deeper monitoring and law enforcement activities toward a mercury-free e-commerce.”
Government agencies in Brunei, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the USA have taken measures banning the importation, distribution, and sale of Goree Beauty Cream to protect public health and the environment against mercury, a toxic chemical banned in cosmetic product formulations.
Most recently, the FDA of Maharashtra, one of India’s 28 states, flagged in July 2026 eight creams and one soap, including Goree Beauty Cream and Goree Whitening Soap, for containing mercury and other heavy metals above permissible limits and warned consumers against their use.
As pointed out by the environmental research and advocacy organization Toxics Link, “the continued availability of these products is inconsistent with the objectives of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which explicitly bans the manufacture, import, and export of mercury-added cosmetics.” The New Delhi-based group pointed out “that the marketing of these products exploits deep-seated biases around skin color, exposing consumers to dangerous toxic substances without their knowledge.”
In the Philippines, the country’s FDA has continuously warned about the dangers of using unauthorized Goree products ever since 2017. FDA Advisory Numbers 2017-289, 2023-2392, 2025-1356, and 2025-1362 banned Goree Beauty Cream with Lycopene and Goree Day & Night Whitening Cream, Goree Gold 24K Beauty Cream, Goree Beauty Kit, and Goree Gold Beauty Kit, respectively.
Exposure to mercury in skin lightening products has been linked to skin rashes, uneven color, and scarring, damage to the renal, nervous, immune, and digestive systems, as well as anxiety and depression.
As an advocate for a zero waste and toxics-free society, the EcoWaste Coalition has been exposing mercury in skin lightening products since 2011, raising consumer awareness and pushing for regulatory action to protect public health and the environment.
