Rip Off Britain broadcasts danger of fake sunglasses

Sunglasses were featured in a BBC episode of Rip Off Britain focusing on holidays last week – with dangerously low UV protection levels found for counterfeits items.

ABDO president and Boots Opticians dispensing standards manager Peter Black was interviewed by the show about UV exposure in the UK and overseas.

‘We know that UV causes sunburn and we protect our skin but we also need to protect our eyes,’ he said.

Black was also sent to Liverpool John Lennon airport for a sunglass clinic, and asked holiday goers to rank which sunglasses they thought offered most protection. Each of the pairs provided for the experiment were certified to British standards, but many of those surveyed were swayed by price tag.