Sun Bum Premium Moisturising Sunscreen Lotion 50+: What CHOICE Measured
Last updated September 13, 2026
CHOICE measured SPF 40 against a label of SPF 50+ in June 2025; Sun Bum answered by pointing at the confidence interval built into the test method.
Sun Bum's premium moisturising lotion measured 40 against a claim of 50+ in the CHOICE round. The brand's response is the most methodological of the 20: rather than dispute the laboratory, it argued that a retest of any sunscreen can land anywhere inside the statistical interval the standard allows.
What was tested
CHOICE measured SPF 40, 12 June 2025
CHOICE measured SPF 40 against a label of SPF 50+. In the body's own words:
Sun Bum Premium Moisturising Sunscreen Lotion 50+ – tested at 40
Method, as CHOICE states it: AS/NZS 2604:2021, incorporating ISO 24444 (in vivo SPF) and ISO 24443 (in vitro UVA); a 10-person panel under a solar simulator, run at Eurofins Dermatest in Sydney.
What the brand said
Sun Bum answered on method rather than on the finding, citing the statistical interval the Australian guidelines build into an SPF result.
It is also acknowledged within the Australian Regulatory guidelines for sunscreen, that subsequent retesting of a sunscreen is likely to yield a mean SPF anywhere within the 95% Confidence Interval (CI) from the original testing of the product…
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.
Alternatives that passed
CHOICE reported that four of the 20 sunscreens it tested returned a measured SPF at or above the claim on the label. Two of the four cleared the claim with margin: La Roche-Posay Anthelios Wet Skin SPF 50+, measured at 72, Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Lotion SPF 50, measured at 56.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Sun Bum dispute the result?
Sun Bum did not reject the laboratory's work. It pointed to the Australian regulatory guidance that a retest is likely to yield a mean SPF anywhere within the 95% confidence interval, an argument the TGA itself echoes when it calls variability in the ISO 24444 test a known problem internationally and domestically.
Is the Australian Sun Bum product the same as the US one?
No. Sun Bum's Australian range is labelled SPF 50+ under the Australian standard; its US products are labelled SPF 50 under the FDA monograph and are separately formulated. This result is about the Australian product CHOICE bought.
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.