SHREVEPORT, La. — American Screening LLC on Friday voluntarily recalled more than 153,000 units of hand sanitizer because the 8-ounce containers closely resemble water bottles, posing consumption and potential poisoning risks.
Shreveport, Louisiana-based American Screening has not received any reports of adverse events related to the recall, but the company issued the following risk statement:
The affected lots contain 70% ethyl alcohol gel, have a UPC code of UPC 8 4005051579 2 and were sold to customers and distributors nationwide via americanscreeningcorp.com and/or in-house sales, the recall stated.
“Ingesting hand sanitizer, which is intended for topical use, could potentially result in alcohol toxicity. Symptoms of alcohol toxicity may range from lack of coordination, slowed or slurred speech, drowsiness to coma, which can be fatal. Furthermore, ingesting alcohol can affect the brain and cause impaired driving or operating heavy machinery. Alcohol can also interact with numerous drugs which may result in serious adverse effects. Ingesting alcohol by people with alcohol addiction may interfere with maintaining abstinence. Additionally, people with alcohol addiction may seek large amounts of ethanol-based hand sanitizers as a substitute.”
Meanwhile, affected black-capped bottles have expiration dates of May 21, 2022, and May 24, 2022, while affected clear-capped bottles feature no lot numbers or expiration dates.
Consumers and distributors are advised to stop using the products immediately and to return them to the place of purchase or discard.
Consumers with questions regarding the recall may contact Wendy Laskowski at wlaskowski@americanscreeningcorp.com or by calling 318-606-6037 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST Monday through Friday.