Naturally Kinky

My experience with RIO is here.


FLASH BACK TO RIO HAIR

FDA Consumer; 3/1/1996; Kurtzweil, Paula

Hair relaxers sold by World Rio Corp were destroyed after the Food and Drug Administration received more than 3,000 complaints that the products made their hair fall out and their scalps burn. World Rio continued to sell the products knowning about the complaints and mislabeling of the product.

Two types of hair relaxers, valued at almost $2 million, were destroyed last fall after thousands of consumers reported problems with them. It was the largest number of complaints FDA had ever received about a cosmetic product.

The destruction was one of several measures the hair products' distributor, World Rio Corp. of Los Angeles, agreed to take in a consent decree entered in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Sept. 1, 1995. The company also agreed not to sell another product like the two destroyed and to use FDA's Cosmetic Product Experience Report to report to the agency and adverse reactions from any hair straighteners it markets.

In 1994 and early 1995, more than 3,000 people reported to FDA that their scalp itched or burned and that their hair broke off or fell out--and, in some cases, turned green--after using the hair relaxers Rio Hair Naturalizer System and Rio Hair Naturalizer System with Color Enhancer.

Based on the complaints and an FDA investigation, the agency alleged that the hair products were being illegally sold in the United States because:

* Adverse effects experienced by consumers were consistent with those seen with harmful substances.

* Their labeling was false. The products' labeling listed an acid pH level of 3.4, but FDA analysis revealed that the pH was significantly less than 3.0. In addition, FDA alleged the labeling falsely described the products as "chemical free," even though the ingredient labels listed substances commonly recognized as chemicals.

* Ingredients, such as mineral salts, were not listed by their common or usual name, as required.

The products were destroyed in Nevada in June 1995 and in California in October 1995.

FDA and state government offices around the country began receiving complaints about the Rio hair products in mid-1994. Many complainants said they had bought the hair relaxers by mail after viewing a 30-minute TV infomercial targeted to African Americans.

Some complainants reported that their hair began falling out immediately after applying the products, while others said they had problems after multiple applications. Some said they had seen doctors for treatment of scalp irritation. Many women said they had to cut their hair short to deal with bald spots.

FDA collected samples of the hair relaxers on Nov. 6 and 8, 1994, at a Los Angeles-based affiliate, Pantron I Corp., of World Rio. Most of the products, which were imported from Brazil, were in the possession of Product Packaging West, also known as Pic 'N' Pac West, of North Hollywood, Calif.

On Nov. 23, the California Department of Health embargoed the products held in Los Angeles and North Hollywood, essentially blocking their sale in the United States. On Dec. 21, FDA advised against use of the products after laboratory findings identified the low pH and the number of consumer complaints indicated that the hair relaxers were causing adverse reactions.

About the same time, World Rio stated it would stop all sales of the products. But, FDA received reports from consumers that the company may still have been taking orders and billing customers through a mail-order company, Addressing and Mailing Inc., in North Las Vegas, Nev.

On Jan. 23, 1995, at FDA's request, U.S. marshals seized the entire lot of products at Product Packaging West in California.

On Jan. 24, an investigator with FDA's San Francisco district office went to Addressing and Mailing to inspect the firm and found more than 8,000 cases of the Rio hair relaxers, worth about $500,000 in retail value. FDA notified the State of Nevada Division of Health, which, in turn, embargoed the products, thus preventing their sale.

On June 14, World Rio voluntarily destroyed the 8,000 cases of Rio hair relaxers held at Addressing and Mailing in Nevada.

Under the terms of the consent decree between the United States and World Rio, the company agreed to destroy the product kits seized at Product Packaging West, although it was allowed to retain some of the kits for use in product liability litigation and for laboratory analysis. These kits must be held by a custodian and be destroyed at the end of the litigation. The company faces about 200 individual lawsuits.

Under the consent decree, World Rio agreed, among other things, not to sell a reformulated hair relaxer or similar product unit the product is tested for safety, the results of those tests are shared with FDA, and World Rio notifies FDA of the date on which it will begin marketing the new product.

COPYRIGHT 1996 U.S. Government Printing Office

This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.


......more on Rio Hair


RIO HAIR PART II

The infomercial for the Rio Hair Naturalizer ran frequently during 1993 and 1994, and resulted in huge sales of the product line. In this infomercial, "good" hair is equivalent to "white" hair: straightened, bouncy, touchable, manageable. Mary, the cheerleader-like woman who, together with Andre the hairdresser, is the MC for this text, continuously shakes her hair throughout the thirty-minute program, and the audience responds with awe. "Bad" hair, on the other hand, is African-American hair: kinky, curly, unshakable, and not soft to the touch. The infomercial repeatedly announces to viewers that they can be "liberated from the bondage of chemically treated hair," stereotypically African-American hair--"smelly, damaged, and greasy," as characterized by this text.

This text appeals to the African American woman's internalized oppression on two levels. First, it appeals to her internalized classism, reflecting the liberal ideology that liberation from racial oppression is equivalent to upward mobility. Second, it appeals to her internalized racism, by visually and verbally reinforcing "white" standards of beauty. The more "white" a black woman's hair appears, the more prestige she brings to the race, the logic goes. In this way, the African-American spokeswoman, Mary, who shakes her head continually throughout the Rio Hair infomercial, hair moving from side to side, becomes a symbol, a metaphor for the "freedom" sought by black people in America.

While the infomercial claimed its product was natural, it turned out that Rio Hair Naturalizer contained harsh chemicals and was highly acidic. Tens of thousands of African American women who used the product had adverse effects, including hair loss, green hair, and burns, blisters, and sores on their scalps.

The plaintiffs included some women who had been physically hurt by Rio Hair, including one woman and her 11-year-old daughter. They "suffered hair loss, baldness, hair discoloration and breakage, and burns to their scalps" (Rosen, "Opinion and Order. . ."). Ironically, then, the very painful experiences of African American women using hair care products that the Rio Hair infomercial mentioned and claimed their product redressed, were actually results of using this product. Rio Hair claimed their product was "natural" and they told the FDA that the naturalizer had only a 3.4 Ph level. Yet the product was found to be much more acidic ("California - World Rio Corporation"), using "cupric chloride acid basic with ascorbic acid to act as a stabilizer" as the "key ingredients" ("Overdue Anticipation"). As the Cosmetic Insiders' Report notes, "the first ingredient is more acidic than is wise even in a heavy industrial product." So African American women were attracted to the idea that they could straighten and "manage" their hair with--finally--a natural product, when in reality the product was one of the most severely unnatural and harsh products on the market.

Many women were affected by Rio; its reach was deep. The court decision states that "approximately 340,000 persons purchased the products." 52,436 of these people filed complaints with the court. These women were convinced to purchase this product by the infomercial's persuasive techniques that relied upon progressive ideas and at the same time upon racist, sexist, and classist notions of "beauty" and "success." Thus, black women's hurts were played upon to entice them to buy and try the products, only to add additional hurts to this same group.

This documentary is really, really depressing. It shows how the African American hair care market has been pretty much monopolized by Korea. It is really quite sad. I wonder should I be angry at the Koreans who seized the opportunity to capitalize on this market, or should I be mad at the Black community for letting it happen. What can we as blacks do to capitalize on this market?

OK So a month ago I ordered some Brunsli Hair Ties. They never came. I ordered them, got a fairly quick response from Brunsli and Co. with a nice USPS tracking number to go along with it. USPS held my Brunsli Hair Ties hostage!!!!!!! I contacted Brunsli and Co. around Thanksgiving wondering what happened to my hair ties. I promptly got an apology from them, even though it really wasn't their fault at all, but rather USPS (ggggrrrrr). In exchange for my long wait they sent one of my hair ties, the other one wasn't available, and as a consolation gift sent me another hair tie. Such great service, and such cute accessories!!!!! They work well in natural hair!!!!!!!

When a new job comes and I have income coming in, watch out Brunsli!!!! I am getting more hair ties!!!!!

I just finished doing some yoga. Since I am not working I am devising a plan where I will not be crying and surfing the internet all day. I plan to keep busy with chores, bills, and job searching. I plan to do yoga or pilates videos every day, but after getting my ass kicked this morning, I don't know. I hope to get motivated and not eat everything in site. Hopefully the exercise will help get me out of my funk and motivate me to eat better, which is hard during this time of the year. Which for the past few months all eating good has gone out the window, I quit taking all diet pills, and I am just eating as if every meal is my last. Well I am not doing that any more, I have to get control, and if I don't I might have to join Overeaters Anonymous.