SCMP Friday, June 16, 2000

Breast potions a big con

Lotions and potions which claim to increase the size of women's breasts are a con and should be avoided. The council collected 11 such products and had them examined by a Western medicine expert, a Chinese herbalist and a nutritionist. All agreed there was no scientific evidence to support their breast-enlarging claims.

The council said most of the mixtures could be described as "food products" and contained soya, placenta, Chinese herbs, lotions and moisturisers which would not affect breast size, although they might help stimulate female hormones.


The council urged drivers not to wear platform shoes after a recent test by the Japan Consumer Information Centre showed people wearing such footwear might be 0.05 seconds slower in hitting the brakes. In February, two men were killed in a car crash in Japan when a woman wearing 20-cm platform shoes ploughed into a van.