Since the coronavirus pandemic was declared back in March, hand sanitiser has become a must-carry item for people around the world.
While hand sanitisers can help you to keep your hands clean while out and about, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning about food-flavoured varities.
According to the FDA, these flavoured sanitisers could make people think they’re edible, leading to alcohol poisoning.
Dr Stephen Hahn, FDA Commissioner, explained: “It’s dangerous to add scents with food flavours to hand sanitisers which children could think smells like food, eat and get alcohol poisoning.”
The FDA has also warned about hand sanitisers that are being packaged in containers the appear to be food or drinks.
Dr Hahn added: “I am increasingly concerned about hand sanitiser being packaged to appear to be consumable products, such as baby food or beverages. These products could confuse consumers into accidentally ingesting a potentially deadly product.”
The FDA highlighted a recent example in which an unnamed consumer bought a bottle they thought to be drinking water, but was actually hand sanitiser.
Worryingly, drinking just a small amount of hand sanitiser can be toxic if ingested, and can lead to cardiac effects, hospitalisations, and even death, according to the FDA.
Based on the findings, the FDA is urging consumers to avoid hand sanitisers in food packaging or with food flavouring.
Dr Hahn said: “Manufacturers should be vigilant about packaging and marketing their hand sanitisers in food or drink packages in an effort to mitigate any potential inadvertent use by consumers.”
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The warning comes shortly after doctors revealed that certain cases alcohol-based hand gels can react with sunlight, leading to painful burns and blisters.
Speaking exclusively to Mirror Online, Dr Simran Deo explained: “If you’re going to be spending extended periods of time in direct sunlight, using alcohol-based hand gels could risk causing damage to your skin.
“While the cause of this reaction isn’t fully understood yet, it is known that alcogels can aggravate eczema, as can sun exposure.
“When sufferers scratch their eczema or the little blisters that often form after frequent alcohol gel use, this can lead to infection, which can look and feel like a burn as the area becomes red, weepy and the top layer of skin sheds.”
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