A few months ago, we all thought and talked about hand sanitizer a lot less. But that was then. Not only is hand sanitizer now one of the most inescapable topics of conversation and a fixture in the news cycle, it is also dangerously delicious.
Hand sanitizer goes down so smoothly, in fact, that the FDA has been forced to ask manufacturers to make it “unpalatable.” After receiving reports of a 13-year-old child drinking the handy disinfectant, the FDA is calling on manufacturers to add denatured alcohol to their products to make them more bitter and less appealing.
“It is important that hand sanitizer be manufactured in a way that makes them unpalatable to people, especially young children, and that they are appropriately labeled to discourage accidental or intentional ingestion,” FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn wrote in a statement.
The FDA also raised concerns about hand sanitizers being marketed with unproven claims. Last week, the agency released a warning letter to Prefense LLC for selling hand sanitizer with claims that the product can “protect you from pathogens up to 24 hours or for 10 hand washes.”
In the statement, the FDA wrote that it “is not aware of any evidence that hand sanitizer products can protect consumers for 24 hours or after multiple hand-washings,” adding that such misleading claims could put users at risk by leading to a false sense of security that may discourage frequent hand washing.
Meanwhile, perhaps as a result of certain suggestions made recently about ingesting disinfectants as a potential coronavirus cure, the FDA also felt compelled to remind users that hand sanitizers “are not proven to treat COVID-19, and like other products meant for external use, are not for ingestion, inhalation, or intravenous use.”
Glad we cleared that up.
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