The US Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on cosmetic industry, having given notice to manufacturers that soon they may have to display safety warning on all cosmetic products. The statement placed on shampoos and lipsticks will read: “Warning — the safety of this product has not been determined”.

“You should know that FDA intends to consider taking compliance action, where appropriate, regarding cosmetic products that contain ingredients that we determine have not been shown to be safe,” wrote the FDA in a recent letter to the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association.

In America consumers are not aware that the FDA does not demand cosmetics to be tested before putting it on the market, while in Europe prior testing is required.

“There is no mandatory reporting. We do not regulate them before they come to the market,” a spokesman for the regulator told Times Online.

Environmental Working Group, and independent research organization, has investigated 7,500 personal-care products, including those of leading brands like Elizabeth Arden, L’Oréal, Dove, Maybelline and Nivea, and discovered that a third of them contained ingredients linked to cancer while 70 per cent may be contaminated with harmful impurities.

The possible crackdown is a real threat to the world's largest sector of cosmetic industry which is based in promoting beauty as well as wellbeing and health.