Experts warn:

Health risks of cheap goods from the internet

Far Eastern online stores are very popular, but the cheap goods sometimes conceal a dangerous secret.

(Bild: Jo Panuwat D - stock.adobe.com)

On Tuesday, the Eco-Social Forum hosted a panel discussion in Vienna on consumer protection when buying cheap products online, especially outside the EU. In addition to the dangers of medicines or food supplements with banned ingredients, the need for better market surveillance of online trade was addressed.

Ultimately, there is also a need to "raise awareness of the health risks." The Director of the Federal Office of Consumer Health (BAVG) and AGES Managing Director Anton Reinl said. Because "online purchases are increasing massively, in 2023 two thirds of Austrians will buy everyday goods online and this trend is rising sharply, especially for children's toys", but official controls are mainly carried out in stationary retail.

The associated risks can range from children's toys with toxic plasticizers, to fairy lights that burst into flames when put into operation, to food supplements with unapproved ingredients. Ulrich Herzog, Head of the Consumer Policy and Consumer Health Section at the Ministry of Health, cited "the rapidly increasing number of individual products ordered, which can only be checked with great effort and intercepted in the event of infringements, as well as the difficulty in tracing them back to the manufacturer" as the biggest challenge. Products that are identified as dangerous or non-compliant are removed from the range by the supplier, "but reappear on the online marketplace under a different name or with a new design", says Herzog.

Complaint rate for toys at over 80 percent
The large American and Chinese online platforms also fall under the BAVG's control regime. In 2024, the complaint rate for toys due to safety defects or labeling deficiencies was over 80 percent. Some food supplements were found to contain banned or unauthorized ingredients such as lithium or harmful mercury. "People buy products online that are not available to buy anywhere in the EU and are not found during stationary checks. We also need to raise awareness of the health risks here."

AGES toy expert Daniela Schachner also pointed out the major differences between bricks-and-mortar and online retail and urged caution with cheap and cheapest offers. Serious safety deficiencies are, for example, detachable and swallowable small parts in toys for children under 36 months or in magnetic toys and excessive kinetic energy in projectile toys.

Expansion of internet controls and cooperation between authorities
National and international networking was seen as the greatest lever for efficiently expanding the control of online trade. Section head Herzog saw important "legal steps in the Digital Services Act" and the new EU Product Safety Regulation, "which will require online marketplaces to cooperate more closely with market surveillance authorities in future".

In technical terms, AGES is already testing the use of artificial intelligence (AI tools) for risk-based controls as part of the FFG-funded research project "eMarketshield" in order to efficiently monitor the market in online food retail "to exploit synergies in Austria". The aim of the BAVG is to "adapt the resources for controls to purchasing behavior and to strengthen the cooperation of all market surveillance authorities, including customs," added Reinl.