FDA warns of hand sanitizer packaged in food, drink containersPublished: August 27, 2020, 6:52 pmThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning people about alcohol-based hand sanitizers that are being packaged in what appears to be food or drink containers.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning people about alcohol-based hand sanitizers that are being packaged in what appears to be food or drink containers. “I am increasingly concerned about hand sanitizer being packaged to appear to be consumable products, such as baby food or beverages. The FDA said it has also found hand sanitizers that contain food flavors, such as chocolate or raspberry. “It’s dangerous to add scents with food flavors to hand sanitizers, which children could think smells like food, eat and get alcohol poisoning,” Hahn said. The FDA’s recommendation is to avoid any hand sanitizer that could be mistaken for something else.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Craft distilleries are turning away from making hand sanitizer. I mean you can go into anywhere and find hand sanitizer,” CEO and co-founder of Grey Matter Distillery Paul Grey said. Actions like those hit the profits of alcohol producers hard, but there was, at the time, a saving grace: hand sanitizer. Several increased hand sanitizer production for the RNC but once that fell through—companies were left with even more product in inventory. The New York Times reported that not all distillers turned away from hand sanitizer production.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is seeing a spike in hand sanitizers containing methanol, or wood alcohol, which is a substance that can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested and can be life-threatening when ingested. There are now a total of 75 different hand sanitizers on the FDA’s updated list of toxic products, some of which have already been recalled while others are being recommended for recalls. The FDA says methanol is not an acceptable active ingredient for hand sanitizers. Most of the time, it’s just going to say ethanol, but you do want to look where the product is coming from. If you have any of the listed hand sanitizer products, the FDA says to dispose of them immediately in appropriate hazardous waste containers.

MEXICO CITY The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about a Mexican-made hand sanitizer gel that it said is dangerous because it contains large amounts of poisonous methanol, or wood alcohol. The FDA said the methanol can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested, and recommended consumers dispose of nine brands of gel sanitizers made by Eskbiochem SA de CV. The FDA said one of the brands contained 81% methanol and no ethyl alcohol, which is the drinkable kind. The brands include All-Clean Hand Sanitizer, CleanCare NoGerm Advanced Hand Sanitizer, The Good Gel Antibacterial Gel Hand Sanitizer and CleanCare NoGerm Advanced Hand Sanitizer. Methanol is a poisonous cousin of the ethyl alcohol in normal liquors and cannot be smelled or tasted in drinks.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Bacardi Bottling Corporation in Jacksonville donated 700 cases of hand sanitizer to Baptist Health. Bacardi Bottling Corporation-Jacksonville is located on N Main St.RELATED | Bacardi plant in Jacksonville now making hand sanitizerThe Bacardi Corporation distillery in Cataño, Puerto Rico, where more than 80% of the company’s rums are produced, has partnered with Puerto Rico based manufacturer Olein Refinery to provide raw materials that will enable the production of more than 1.7M units of 10-ounce hand sanitizer, the website said. Over half a million of the 10-ounce hand sanitizer units produced in partnership with Bacardi will be donated. Click here for more information.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The St. Augustine Distillery is known for making its own bourbon, vodka, gin and rum. Now, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the distillery is making its own hand sanitizer to help protect the community from COVID-19. They’re right on the frontline, so having this readily available for them -- they’re super happy for it," said St. Augustine Distillery General Manager Matt Stevens. The distillery’s hand sanitizer, which also contains aloe vera and essential oils, comes in a spray bottle. The St. Augustine Distillery's hand sanitizer contains alcohol, aloe vera and essential oils.

UNITED KINGDOM – He’s an entrepreneur in the making. A mother said her son was sent home early from school after he was caught selling “squirts” of hand sanitizer to students at his school. It appears that the teenager in the United Kingdom was selling the pumps for fifty pence, the equivalent to around 70 US cents, a pop. His mother posted the story on Facebook, saying it is hard to discipline him for what he did. “Very hard to discipline this behavior when his dad phones him from work to call him a f****** legend,” the mother wrote in a post on Facebook.