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Katie Price falls foul of sweatshop allegations Posted: 2010-07-02

The UK retailer Superdrug has boycotted perfume under the Katie Price brand after allegations that the product's bottles were manufactured in a factory guilty of labour abuses.
 
The Stunning and Besotted fragrances have been pulled after newspaper reports that Indian workers making the bottles were paid less than the minimum wage, even as little as 26p per hour. The products themselves sell for more than £20 ($29.60, €23.90).

Superdrug said its own policies had obliged it to remove the perfumes. It said: 'As a business, we have a robust ethical trading policy so that our customers can be confident that they are buying products that are made in an ethical way. Therefore, we have taken the decision to remove Katie Price's fragrances from our shelves at this time while we conduct an investigation.'

The glamour model and reality TV star Katie Price, previously known as Jordan, also has a bedding and clothing range. She is not the first celebrity to fall foul of poor labour practices. In 2004 the clothing products of the US hip-hop artist P. Diddy were found to have been made in Honduran sweatshops with forced overtime, gender discrimination and human rights violations.

Price's spokesperson said the bottling had been moved to the UK and France, adding: 'We would like to reiterate, as always, that all products manufactured for Katie Price, or third parties working on behalf of Katie Price, have a checking policy that ensures health, safety and ethical trading guidelines are met and in most cases are exceeded. We are investigating if and how this has occurred in these circumstances.'



 
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