USFDA warns against hand sanitizers that look like drinks

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday warned of alcohol-based sanitizers being packaged and sold in containers that appear like food or drinks.

At a time when health agencies are pushing for better hand hygiene to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, the top health regulator found many hand sanitizers look like beer cans, children's food pouches, water bottles, juice bottles and vodka bottles.

Some of them were being sold with cartoons for children and had added food flavours such as chocolate or raspberry.

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"These products could confuse consumers into accidentally ingesting a potentially deadly product," FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a statement.

He warned against adding scents with food flavours to hand sanitizers as it would lead to children mistaking it for food and result in alcohol poisoning.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has backed the use of sanitizers if soap and water are not available, has reported several cases of methanol poisoning, some even fatal, caused by swallowing alcohol-based hand sanitizers.