Coppertone Kids Tear Free Lotion SPF 50: What Consumer Reports Measured
Last updated September 13, 2026
Consumer Reports measured SPF 13 against a label of SPF 50 in its 2026 round, naming it in one sentence with two other children's and mist products.
Consumer Reports named this lotion in one sentence of its 2026 report alongside Black Girl Sunscreen Kids Lotion SPF 50 and the Soleil Toujours Clean Conscious Antioxidant Mist SPF 50, reporting that all three gave poor UVA protection and just fair SPF protection. The lotions measured 13 against a claim of 50.
What was tested
Consumer Reports measured SPF 13, 27 April 2026
Consumer Reports measured SPF 13 against a label of SPF 50. In the body's own words:
…The lotions tested at SPF 13, while the spray tested at SPF 14.
Method, as Consumer Reports states it: Consumer Reports' own protocol, modelled on but not identical to the FDA monograph: a standard dose on a 2x3-inch area of the back, 40- or 80-minute water immersion where a water-resistance claim is made, then five or six UV intensities from a solar simulator read for redness about 24 hours later. Three samples of each product are bought at retail, preferably from different lots. UVA is measured in vitro by transmission through sunscreen-coated plates.
What happened next
Market status: no change has been published by any source cited here. Statuses in this story moved repeatedly between 2025 and 2026, so check the regulator before assuming a product is still on sale.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people does Consumer Reports test on?
Three. CR states that for SPF it tests the sunscreens on three people, which is fewer than the FDA's protocol calls for, but that it uses a statistical analysis to verify its results. The ISO 24444 method used in Australia and the UK requires a minimum of ten. The two kinds of figure should not be put in the same league table.
Was the product recalled?
No recall has been published by any source cited here. Consumer Reports is a testing organisation, not a regulator, and the FDA does not routinely test finished sunscreens.
Did every Coppertone product test badly?
A result belongs to a formulation, not to a brand: this figure is Consumer Reports' measurement of the Kids Tear Free Lotion SPF 50 and of nothing else. Consumer Reports names other Coppertone products in the same round; the page cited here shows no measured value for them, and none is reproduced here.
SPF List did not test this product. The results on this page were published by the named test body or regulator; quotes and links go to the original publication. Brand responses and later developments are listed where they were published. Formulations change; a result applies to the batch and date tested.