The Consumers’ Foundation yesterday urged consumers to select antibacterial hand sanitizers that have been approved by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, saying that claims of antibacterial benefits made by some products online might be in contravention of labeling or permit requirements.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, advertisements promoting products claimed to have “antibacterial” or “sterilizing” effects have become commonplace, the foundation said.
However, not only could hand sanitizing products making such claims potentially be in contravention of regulations on the advertising of medical efficacy, but whether they can really kill bacteria is also questionable, it said.
Photo: CNA
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), hand sanitizers containing alcohol that are used for medical purposes, such as disinfection before surgery, are regulated as drugs, while those used for general cleaning of the hands or skin are regarded as regular products and cannot claim medical efficacy, such as the ability to sterilize or disinfect, the foundation said.
If advertisements for the latter type of hand sanitizers contain claims of medical efficacy, they would be in contravention of Article 69 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法), the foundation added, citing the FDA.
The article stipulates that no labeling or promotion of medical efficacy should be made about products that are not medicaments as defined by law, it said.
The act states that contraventions of the article are punishable by a fine of NT$600,000 to NT$25 million (US$20,155 to US$839,772).
The foundation in April found a sample of 12 hand sanitizing products online, priced at NT$260 to NT$799, by searching for “antibacterial hand sanitizers” on six different e-commerce platforms, it said.
Each of the 12 products claimed to be “antibacterial,” but the foundation could not find ministry-issued permit numbers for any of them, it added.
Some of them also had unclear labeling of ingredients, it said.
Five of them only appeared to list some of their ingredients, it added.
Of the 12, only one clearly indicated its manufacturer on the Web page where it was being sold, the foundation said.
The manufacturers of two of the products could be deciphered from their advertising, while the foundation could not find information about the manufacturers for the remaining nine, it said.
The foundation advised consumers to first visit the ministry’s online search engine for permits issued for medicine, medical devices and specific-purpose cosmetics, and to search for hand sanitizers that have been registered in the database before they make a purchase.
The foundation also urged the government to inspect hand sanitizers on the market, adding that the government should establish inspection standards and advertising restrictions for so-called “epidemic prevention” products that have emerged during the pandemic.
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