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Major sanitary pad manufacturers in China are apologizing after being accused of selling smaller pads than advertised.
It comes amid a storm of outrage after videos that went viral on social media showed Chinese women measuring the length of popular brands of sanitary pads – revealing that most of them were as stated on their packaging. are less than things.
The uproar has fueled broader complaints about women being short-changed by feminine hygiene products, which have a history of safety scandals in China.
Chinese women have decided to address concerns about the quality of sanitary pads, the most widely used feminine hygiene product in the country.
In one of the earlier videos, posted on November 3, a user on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu tested nine brands of sanitary pads with a measuring tape, showing that they all are shorter than the length stated on their packaging.
“Will cutting off a few centimeters help you get rich?” the user wrote in his video.
The revelations soon sparked widespread criticism, with consumers accusing sanitary pad makers of fraud.
“Inflatable sanitary pads are the same length as the insoles on the bottom of men’s feet,” reads a popular Weibo post.
Amid the uproar, an investigation by Chinese news outlet The Paper of more than 20 different sanitary pads found that nearly 90 percent of the products had “shrunk,” measuring at least 10 times smaller than claimed on their packaging. It was mm. Most of them had small absorbent pads on the inside, meant to soak up menstrual flow.
The paper also noted that national standards for sanitary pads state that products can measure within 4% of the advertised length, but they do not specify the length of the absorbent layer in sanitary pads.
After a storm of complaints, officials said they were revising the current national standard on sanitary pads, according to local media.
Faced with customer inquiries and complaints about the length discrepancy of its sanitary pads, popular Chinese brand ABC sparked further outrage when its customer service reportedly responded to the complaint by saying that “If you cannot accept [the length difference] Then you can choose not to buy it.”
ABC said in a statement in mid-November that it “deeply regrets” the “inappropriate” response, and pledged to improve its product to achieve “zero deviation”. Other companies including Shecare and Beishute have also issued apologies.
Chinese state media has also weighed in on the controversy, criticizing manufacturers for cutting corners.
“As a daily necessity for women, the quality of sanitary pads is directly related to the health and comfort of the user,” reads an article in Xinhua. “The problems with some of the products on the market cannot be ignored.”
Sanitary pads are the most widely used feminine hygiene product in China, where the market is worth $13bn (£10bn). However, the products have also made headlines over the years for safety issues.
In 2016, police uncovered a large-scale “fake sanitary towel” operation in southeastern China, where millions of sanitary pads were manufactured in a factory without proper hygiene measures and packaged as popular brands. . In 2021, popular feminine hygiene brand Space 7 apologized and committed to an investigation after a woman claimed she found a needle in one of its sanitary pads.
The wave of anger also reflects broader grievances felt by women over the quality of products made for them.
“Is it so hard for sanitary pads to meet women’s needs?” reads a trending hashtag on Weibo.
Another trending phrase that has caught on amid the blowback encapsulates the outrage: “Sanitary pads produce one centimeter; women gain for a lifetime.”
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