The Executive Yuan’s Consumer Protection Office yesterday said that an inspection found that 11 out of 15 hand sanitizer products, as well as four out of 11 Internet advertisements, failed to meet standards.
The office launched the inspection over reports that some hand wash solutions with alcohol content contained methanol and had caused some users to faint, develop permanent blindness or have epileptic seizures, office senior consumer ombudsman Wang Te-ming (王德明) said.
The inspection covered all solutions sold at brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce sites in May and June, he said.
Office secretary Ko Meng-chun (柯孟君) said that eight out of 15 products were found to contravene the Commodity Labeling Act (商品標示法) for failing to provide detailed label information in Chinese about the manufacturer, the manufacturing date and some of the core ingredients.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Central Region Office has asked local governments to notify the companies in breach of the act to correct the labeling within a certain period or face fines of NT$20,000 to NT$200,000 (US$678 to US$6,776) until they comply with the law, Ko said.
Only two of the products specified on their labeling that they were intended for medical use, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) technical specialist Syu Jhih-yu (許芷瑀) said.
The other 13 contravened Article 69 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (藥事法) for using words such as “disinfect” or “kills germs” on their labeling, which is punishable by fines of NT$600,000 to NT$25 million, Syu said.
The offending products have been confiscated and disposed of, she added.
According to Article 6 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, products marketed as having the ability to kill germs or viruses, or cure or prevent diseases, are categorized as having a “curative effect,” which in effect makes them “drugs,” which must undergo clinical trials and be approved by the FDA, Syu said.
However, sanitizers marketed as “bacteriostatic” or “antimicrobial” are not considered mislabeled by the FDA, she said.
They fall under the jurisdiction of the Fair Trade Commission or the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which can require companies selling such products to provide documented laboratory test results, she added.
Of the 11 advertisements inspected by the office, four failed to meet standards, Environmental Protection Administration Department of Toxic and Chemical Substances Division Deputy Director Chen Shu-ling (陳淑玲) said.
The Japanese-made “Wonderful Spray” was fined NT$60,000 and its advertisements were removed from the Internet for contravening the Environmental Agents Control Act (環境用藥管理法).
Wang urged consumers to check the labeling of products before buying them and not to purchase products with smudged labeling or unclear description of products.
Additional reporting by Sean Lin
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