The Municipality of Abu Dhabi has destroyed three tons of fake or dangerous cosmetics and herbal medicines.

Khalifa Mohammed al Rumaithi, the director of public health, said that the products destroyed were either past their expiration dates or the ingredients were not correctly labeled on their packaging. Other products contained high concentrations of toxins including mercury and arsenic, or carried indecent images.

“In some cases it was discovered that there was a mismatch between the description of ingredients labeled on the package and the actual contents inside when subjected to laboratory analysis,” said al Rumaithi.

al Rumaithi asked that the public report any expired or adulterated products at cosmetics outlets or beauty parlours and that merchants be aware of consumers’ health and safety.