Crocs pays $230,000 to settle antimicrobial complaints
05/01/2011
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it had taken action against Crocs because of a lack of information around claims the brand made about several shoe models. Because of the lack of information and the fact that the company had not registered the products with the EPA, the agency said claims Crocs had made on its website and on product packaging about antimicrobial functionality in the shoes were unsubstantiated.
The director of the EPA’s technical enforcement programme in Denver, Sandra Stavnes, told local media: “We’re seeing more and more consumer products making a wide variety of antimicrobial claims. Whether they involve shoes or other common household products, EPA takes these unsubstantiated public health claims seriously.”
The EPA regards any product that claims to kill or repel bacteria or germs as a pesticide, and requires that all pesticides must be registered with the EPA before distribution or sale. The agency will not register a pesticide until it has been tested to show that it poses no health risk.
In the case involving Crocs, the EPA said the footwear brand had co-operated fully with its enforcement staff.
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