Looking at photos of three-year-old Rivers Jasper, you’d be forgiven for thinking the little boy had been badly scalded in some sort of an accident. Instead, the youngster’s family claim the welts and blisters on his back, face, shoulders and ears were the result of a Cancer Council-approved ‘Peppa Pig’ sunscreen.
The family from Cunderdin, Western Australia were on holiday in Bali when the distressing incident occurred.
Shannae and Paul Jasper, the young boy’s parents, said they applied the sun protection to their son in their hotel room and that within minutes he was covered in burns and screaming in pain.
“His skin was really, really tender and red. He was vomiting all the next day,” Ms Jasper told Seven News Perth.
“He’s absolutely petrified now of when we try and put any type of spray, lotion, even in the bath he won’t pour the water over his back. He won’t let us touch him.”
They said the sunscreen had been sitting unused for about a year, but that it was still within its expiry date.
Mrs Jasper has since taken to social media to warn other parents about the possible dangers of the charity’s product. She uploaded pictures of her son’s injuries as well as a video of him screaming in agony.
More than 100 commenters said they have experienced similar reactions with their own children, which has prompted some to call for the product to be pulled off the shelves.
“We don’t want to stop supporting The Cancer Council or their product,” the family said, adding: “We just don’t want others kids to go through what we’ve been through.”
Sadly, a similar incident made headlines earlier this year.
Queensland mother Jessie Swan’s three-month-old son spent three days in hospital this summer after a Cancer Council SPF50+ Peppa Pig sunscreen left his little body badly “burnt.”
“This is my 3 month old son,” she wrote on Facebook. “He has not been in the sun, he was simply outdoors so I put screen on him just in case.”
“We’ve been in hospital for 3 days 2 nights so far trying to treat this horrible rash/burn caused by your 50+Peppa pig sunscreen.”
“DO NOT BUY THIS SUNSCREEN. Please explain how your product could possibly do this?!”
Jessie’s post was shared over 7,000 times and received more than 4,000 comments, some of which were left by other disgruntled parents who claim their children experienced similar reactions after using the sun protection.
According to *Kidspot, the Cancer Council Australia responded to the hundreds of Facebook comments that followed Jessie’s initial warning, stating:
Yesterday we were saddened to learn via Facebook that a young child had a negative experience with our SPF50+ Kids Sunscreen.
We take any concern raised about our products very seriously and have been in direct contact with the boy’s mother, Jessie, to investigate this further.
This product has been on the market for a number of years. Since it was introduced more than 250,000 bottles have been sold. We have only received a very small number of complaints regarding this product, some of which related to issues with the function of the pump spray, not the sunscreen itself.
Sunscreens in Australia are strictly regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). All Cancer Council sunscreens and their ingredients are fully compliant with these regulations and all of our sunscreens are independently tested to ensure they exceed the SPF level advised on the bottle.
Additionally, all products formulated for sensitive skin, including our SPF50+ Kids Sunscreen, are dermatologically tested to ensure that they pass the Repeat Insult Patch Test (RIPT), a recognised formal skin sensitivity test for topically applied products. If you have sensitive skin, doing a personal patch test is even more important.
