Australian SPF50+ sunscreen tests as low as SPF 4; formula maker faces multimillion-dollar lawsuits

One of the products involved was Ultra Violette’s Lean Screen SPF50+, which Choice testing found had an SPF of just four. A sunscreen manufacturer whose base formula was used in 20 products recalled in Australia after they failed to meet their advertised SPF claims is facing multimillion-dollar legal claims. Wild Child Laboratories is being sued in the Federal Court over allegations of misleading and deceptive conduct.The issue came to light last year after an ABC news Australia investigation and testing by consumer group Choice led to a series of sunscreen recalls. One of the products involved was Ultra Violette’s Lean Screen SPF50+, which Choice testing found had an SPF of just four.Ultra Violette is now seeking millions of dollars from Wild Child Laboratories. The company alleges that Wild Child made several representations that its sunscreen had an SPF of 50 or 50+, but tests it commissioned later returned much lower results.The legal action has become more complicated because Wild Child Laboratories went into voluntary liquidation in August. The company had sold its assets to a newly established business called Heliora about a month earlier. Heliora continued the sunscreen man...