Thousands of products listed for sale on Amazon that federal agencies declared unsafe or banned were deceptively labeled, The Wall Street Journal found.
Of the 4,152 products, there were at least 157 items Amazon had previously said it banned, including sleeping mats the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeled unsafe because it can suffocate infants.
There were also 116 products falsely labeled as “FDA-approved,” including 98 eyelash growth serums, 43 painkiller listings without proper FDA warnings, 52 supplements the FDA and Justice Department found contain illegally imported prescription drugs, 1,412 electronics listings falsely labeled as UL certified, and 2,324 toys lacked warnings.
“Safety is a top priority at Amazon,” a spokeswoman told the publication. “When a concern arises, we move quickly to protect customers and work directly with sellers, brands, and government agencies.”
Amazon scans hundreds of millions of items every few minutes using automated tools to screen potential sellers and block suspicious ones from listing products on the site. The tool blocked 3 billion items in 2018, the spokeswoman added.
The site had 2.5 million vendors with items listed in 2018, the Journal reported Friday, citing Marketplace Pulse.