Class Action Alleges Sebamed Products’ pH Balance Claims Not Exactly True

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A proposed class action recently removed to California federal court claims German company Sebapharma GmbH & Co. KG’s Sebamed skincare products are falsely advertised as having a “pH balance of exactly 5.5.” The suit also names as defendants the companies that market and distribute the products in the U.S., as well as two individuals who control those companies, and several retailers that sell the products, including CVS, Costco, Rite Aid, Kroger, iHerb, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Vitacost.

The case is centered around the products’ claims that their pH level of “exactly 5.5” is “essential in maintaining your skin’s natural hydrolipid barrier against environmental stress.” Despite the labels’ assurances that “[e]very Sebamed product is meticulously formulated to a pH balance of exactly 5.5,” independent lab results prove otherwise, the lawsuit argues. The complaint cites tests performed on various Sebamed products that reportedly displayed pH levels ranging between 5.63 and 6.27 – not “exactly 5.5” as the defendants claim.

The plaintiff argues that she and other consumers were deceived by the defendants’ misrepresentations into paying for products they would not have bought absent the companies’ false assurances. The lawsuit seeks to end the defendants’ supposedly deceptive marketing tactics; require them to conduct a “corrective advertising campaign”; cause the companies to surrender “the amount by which [they] were unjustly enriched”; pay damages and attorneys’ fees; and “destroy all misleading and deceptive materials and products.”