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Silver Spring, MD – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns consumers about alcohol-based hand exams that are packaged in containers that may appear as food or drink and could put consumers at risk of serious injury or death if they become included. The agency has discovered that some hand disinfectants are packaged in beer cans, baby bottles, water bottles, soup bottles and vodka bottles. In addition, the FDA has found hand sanitizers that contain food flavors, such as chocolate and raspberries.

“I am increasingly concerned about hand sanitizer that is packaged to be consumer products, such as baby food or drinks. These products can distract consumers by accidentally ingesting a potentially deadly product. “It’s dangerous to add odors with food flavors to handlers that children may think smell like food, food and alcohol poisoning,” said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, MD. Manufacturers need to be vigilant about packaging and marketing their hand researchers in food or beverage packages in an effort to limit potentially unintended use by consumers. The FDA continues to monitor these products and we will take appropriate action as necessary to protect the health of Americans. ”

In one recent example of consumer confusion, the FDA received a report that a consumer bought a bottle that they thought was drinking water but was actually hand sanitizer. The agency also received a report from a retailer about a hand sanitizer product that was sold with cartoons for children in a bag that looked like a snack. Drinking only a small amount of detergent is potentially deadly to a young child, which can be attracted by a pleasant smell or brightly colored bottle of hand sanitizer.

Hand disinfectant can be toxic on ingestion. The FDA continues to see an increasing number of adverse events with manual ingestion, including heart effects, central nervous system effects, hospitalizations, and deaths, particularly reported to poison control centers and state health departments. For more information, consumers should refer to the FDA Guidelines for Safe Use of Manual, as well as a question and answer page.

The FDA encourages healthcare professionals, consumers and patients to report adverse events or quality issues experienced with the use of hand infections to the FDA MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting Program (please provide the agency with as much information about the product as possible to identify).

The FDA continues to work proactively with manufacturers to recall potentially dangerous products from the sanitizer and strongly encourages retailers to remove these products from store shelves and online marketplaces. A list of sanitizer products for products that the FDA urges consumers not to use, along with a description for consumers on how to use the list, is posted on the agency’s website, which is updated regularly.

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Social and Human Services, protects public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy, and safety of human and veterinary medicines, vaccines, and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency is also responsible for the safety and security of food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that emit electronic radiation, and for regulating our nation’s tobacco products.

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