AmorePacific Group, Korea’s largest cosmetics company, apologized Tuesday for selling products that contained high levels of the dangerous heavy metal antimony.
The company said it is in the process of taking the products off store shelves.
On Monday, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said that 13 cosmetic items from a local contract manufacturer were found to have levels of antimony that were beyond legal limits. The ministry ordered the companies selling the products to pull them from the market.
Among the products, six were sold by AmorePacific’s brands – four concealers from Aritaum, and a concealer and an eyebrow pencil from Etude House.
“As a manufacturer and distributor, we should have paid full attention to ensure quality control of all products sold,” AmorePacific said in a statement. “We are very sorry for causing inconvenience.
“We will make every effort possible to minimize any further inconvenience in the process of retrieving the products.”