Skin Lotion Product Development: 4 Ways An FDA Attorney Can Help You Through An Official Launch
The Food and Drug Administration was created to help inform and protect consumers through regulating the products that are sold in retail stores. The regulations set in place may seem complicated, but they can help prevent false advertisements and unregulated products from hitting the market. If you've developed your own line of skin lotions, then there are many steps you must take to get through the FDA process and have your product approved for retail. Instead of going through this process alone and risking your product, it's a good idea to consult with an FDA attorney. These attorneys understand the process and can guide you in the right direction. There are four specific ways an attorney can help you through the process and help expedite your product for approval.
Formulation Listings
As you browse cosmetic aisles at your favorite store, you will notice one thing in common on all of the labels. This is a highly detailed ingredient list. Also known as a formulation listing, this is required for your product in order to make it to retail shelves. When consulting with an FDA attorney, you can develop a formulation listing that accurately represents all of your ingredients and showcases them in the proper order. They can help you with the scientific names and ways to help protect your formula. For example, you may want to protect some of the special ingredients that makes your lotion stand out from other products. To do this, an FDA attorney can help you file an exemption for trade secret formulas. This process will help protect the originality of your lotion and ensure that no one can just steal the whole formula. By properly filing for this, you can help create an original product that lasts for years.
Label Designs
Aside from the formulation listings, your lotion label needs to follow strict requirements that feature true statements about the product. Before printing out mass labels for your lotion, it's a good idea to send digital label designs over to an FDA attorney. The attorney can look over the label and approve different design claims. For example, phrases like "All-Natural" or "100% Organic" have to be completely true before they can be used for printing. If something is mislabeled, the whole product could be recalled and removed from shelves until the label is replaced. This could end up costing thousands of dollars and include a huge loss of inventory. Being prepared ahead of time can make a huge difference.
Advertising
Along with the label, it's important to inspect any advertising that will be used in conjunction with your product launch. Print ads, store displays, and coupon ads all need to follow FDA regulations. Your claims and listings need to accurately represent the product that you have and ensure that nothing is misleading to the consumer. Along with your ad statements, an attorney can help you place legal disclaimers and messages on the ad. These are typically the fine print that is included on the bottom of an ad. The legal text can cover a wide range of topics including FDA statements, ingredient disclosures, and disclosures based on quotes from doctors or other professionals that have promoted your product.
Product Categorization
As you prepare to launch your skin lotion line, it's important to know what type of product categorization it will fall under. Lotions will be labeled as either a cosmetic or drug. In some cases, they may be labeled as both. If the lotion is intended to alter an appearance or improve the beauty of a person, then it falls under a cosmetic product. If the lotion is intended to treat ailments or diseases, then it is typically labeled as a drug. For example, lotions used to treat dry skin conditions or acne may be labeled as a drug. An FDA attorney can help you with this distinction. In many cases, your product may fall under both categories and be regulated by the FDA in this way. An attorney can help you avoid any legal troubles by helping you fit into the product categorization as the product launches.
All of these aspects may seem overwhelming, but breaking them down into multiple steps can help make the process go a lot easier. An attorney can guide you each way and give you the reassurance you need to help your product.